


A Nest of Wrens

by Just_a_useless_writer



Category: Ao no Exorcist | Blue Exorcist
Genre: Abuse, Anal Sex, Angst, Ball Gag, Blood, Blood Play, Bondage, Demons, Double Penetration, Exorcism, Fire play, Gore, Hallucinations, Happy Ending, Henry Faust, M/M, Major character death - Freeform, Multi, Oral Sex, Orgasm Denial, Possession, Self Harm, Suicide, Tail Play, Time Travel, Violence, attempted forceful claiming, church shenanigans, glove play, handjobs, idiots who wont admit they love each other, shiro shoots things yep, some gun violence, sounder, which is you know a metaphor for non con, young!rin - Freeform, young!yukio
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-26
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-02-26 22:54:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 116,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21566998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Just_a_useless_writer/pseuds/Just_a_useless_writer
Summary: A year after Rin Okumura's first demonic heat cycle the half demon finds himself falling for the two demon kings that help him through his season. However, one purple loving bastard is a less than willing participant when it comes to emotions.(Spoiler warning, up to date with the latest online manga chapters.)
Relationships: Amaimon/Mephisto Pheles, Amaimon/Okumura Rin, Amaimon/Okumura Rin/Mephisto Pheles, Fujimoto Shiro/Amaimon, Fujimoto Shiro/Mephisto Pheles/Amaimon, Fujimoto Shirou/Mephisto Pheles, Mephisto Pheles/Okumura Rin/Amaimon, Okumura Rin/Mephisto Pheles, Satan - Relationship
Comments: 135
Kudos: 281





	1. Tipping the scales.

**Author's Note:**

> Wow I haven’t written a fanfic in a hot minute, trying to jump back into it with a new pairing. The original otp is here of course with Mephisto and Amaimon, this time though there's a little blue idiot to spice things up.

Rin woke to the feeling of a cold nose pressing against his neck, a quiet purr rising in his chest as an all too familiar scent washed over him. A responding purr rumbled through the chest beside his, sending soft vibrations through him and he smiled, letting his eyes stay closed as morning light filled the room and stained the back of his eyelids a deep, soft blue. The all consuming heat that had ate away at him for the past week of his mating season had retreated fully, leaving his body drifting in a pleasant coolness even beneath the covers of Mephisto’s bed, Amaimon’s warm body draped across his chest.

He could have stayed there forever. Thoughts of settling happily into the two demon's lives had pestered him for a little while, a month or so at most, but now it seemed to itch at the back of his mind constantly. Wouldn’t it be nice to be comfortable like this all the time? Wouldn’t it be nice to not move his gaze away from Amaimon’s own when he caught him staring as they played video games on his dorm room floor? 

Amaimon had been hanging out with him since his first heat, the two of them settling into a routine of play fighting followed by heated couplings then snacks and games back at Rin's place. Mephisto joined in from time to time as Rin had grown more and more comfortable with them both of them, but he wasn’t as involved and Rin couldn’t deny that he’d caught a possessive glow in Mephisto's eyes every now and then when he had sex with Amaimon. Rin supposed he had stepped on their tails a bit, coming in to play friends with benefits with the two demons who had been in a relationship for decades. Well, a relationship of sorts. They never used the 'L' word. Mephisto said demons couldn’t feel it. 

Rins fingers drew lazy patterns across Amaimon's back, wondering what it was like being unable to love. Amaimon didn’t look like he couldn’t, not when all Rin saw when he opened his eyes was his soft, sleeping expression. He shook the thoughts off with a sigh. They were friends, sometimes they had sex. It didn’t need to be more complicated than that. Amaimon seemed to agree, mumbling something in his sleep and clinging tighter to Rin, legs kicking with a dream. He wondered what demons dreamed about. 

To his left movement caught his ear, feet padding across tile floor. Mephisto was already up and moving around, he probably had been for a long time. Rin found himself wishing he’d stay in bed with them, but he never did. 

He shifted, scooting away from Amaimon's warmth, smiling as the earth king’s small eyebrows twitched with annoyance, a small "No..." leaving him as he lost his space heater. Rin walked towards the bathroom, hoping to catch Mephisto before he left for work, figuring that by this time he’d be dressed and just about ready to go, but as he pushed the door open he was met with a sight he hadn’t expected. 

Mephisto stood, still naked in front of the bathroom's large, hands running gently over the degradation that marred his chest. His gaze was distant and he didn’t bother to acknowledge Rin as he entered the room. He just stared at himself, looking down at the rot, flexing his fingers as if surprised they were there. The hair on the back of Rin's neck stood on end, the eerie feeling coiling off Mephisto setting his nerves on edge. It was as if the mask of a Mephisto had slipped from him, revealing Samael underneath, something that always made him shiver, but this time the mask hadn’t slipped because of anger or because he was in the mood for some rougher bedroom play. No, this time Samael was quiet and calm, transfixed on his form, guard down yet still terrifyingly powerful. He stood, the calm before a storm, the air still before lightning cracked the sky and rain poured to the earth in a pounding torrent. 

Rin watched him, wary and quiet, unsure of what to do until after a few minutes with no warning whatsoever Mephisto sucked in a sharp breath of air, coming back to himself in a flutter of lashes. "Oh Rin!" He said, claws flexing oddly at his side, the action not going unnoticed by the younger, "I apologize, I was a touch distracted, is there something you needed? Your heat broke at 2:27 this morning, but you’re welcome to linger in the manor, of course."

Rin ignored that Mephisto knew exactly when his heat had faded, having long since accepted the demon's tendency to observe every minute detail, even when it involved him being asleep. "You okay?"

Mephisto's eyes narrowed at him for a split second before he turned and looked back at his reflection as if it would have answers "Just thinking." He explained, looking back at Rin with a smile that he knew was fake. "I’ll need a new host soon, is all"

Rin frowned at the thought, he knew of course that Mephisto and Amaimon were possessing humans, humans who probably had lives, maybe even people who loved them, but he never thought too hard about it. He tried not to anyway. "Where will you get one?"

"I have a few candidates." Mephisto answered smoothly, as if he wasn’t talking about essentially killing someone. Rin grimaced and wondered if Mephisto would take anyone he knew. "Now, now don’t give me that look, I never take what hasn’t already been given" Mephisto defended as he caught the reflection of Rin's expression in the mirror. 

His answer caught Rin off guard, he’d half expected him to say that it didn’t matter who he possessed so long as they were strong enough to contain his aspect. The world needed him. Needed him to close the Gehenna gate, to help Rin become strong enough to fight Satan. The death of one human would mean nothing millions of lives could be saved. It was a necessary sacrifice and deep down Rin knew that even if the thought of Mephisto killing made him nervous, yet all Mephisto had said was he only took what was given to him. Rin knew him well enough to understand that the word 'give' was considered a very loose term in the demons eyes, but it still still sounded oddly specific.

Shouldn’t Mephisto be eager to possess any human he came in contact with that was strong enough for him? 

He wanted to ask. Wanted to ask him why he hadn’t already taken a new host, wanted to ask who the candidates were. But, Mephisto had already looked back at the mirror, "I have to go soon." He said in a tone that suggested Rin should leave him be for the moment without right out telling him. He took the hint, feeling his stomach twist uncomfortably at the thought of Mephisto so casually blowing him off as he turned and left the room.

Flopping back down in Mephisto's bed Rin growler lowly with frustration, curling up into a tight ball, arms crossed almost childishly across his chest. His tail beat against the comforter and if the air was humid enough for steam to roll off of him it would. 

"Mm?" A groggy voice called out to him, Amaimon's still half asleep form scooting over and sighing as he found Rin, curling against his naturally warm body. 

"Big lizard." Rin chuckled, feeling his anger disappear in an instant. Mephisto could be hard to read, he probably hadn’t meant anything with his flippant attitude, Rin assured himself as he watched Amaimon wrap his arms about his waist, sticking his tongue out and flicking it in response. At least he was easy to read, as soon as Rin had figured out that Amaimon wasn’t emotionless, or dense, just blunt he’d learned how to read moods quickly. Amaimon was the type who was honest with himself and others, sometimes a bit too honest, but if he had something to say then he’d say it and if he wanted something then he’d take it. Simple as that. 

Rin closed his eyes again, running his fingers through Amaimon’s hair until he heard Mephisto walk back into the room. "I probably won’t be back for a while, I’m needed at headquarters." He said matter of factly, fiddling with the cuff links at his wrists to get them set perfectly."Rin, do me a favor and make sure he doesn’t sleep all day, would you?"

Amaimon grumbled unintelligibly is responds, turning his head towards Mephisto until he got what he wanted, the time king walking over to him and bending down to kiss him gently. He then looked up at Rin, pressing their lips together too. Rin felt heat rise to his cheeks. Mephisto didn’t bother to kiss him very often and after how oddly he’d acted in the bathroom the touch was unexpected. "Y-Yeah...yeah, sure, I’ll make sure he does something productive." 

Mephisto smiled, clapping his hands together as he fell fully into his typical act, "I’ll be off then, ciao~!" He snapped his fingers and was gone in a flash, leaving Rin and Amaimon behind.

"He sounds so stupid when he acts like that." Amaimon snickered, stretching like a cat caught in a sunbeam, mimicking Mephisto’s voice. "Ciao~!" He rolled off the bed with dramatic flare, popping up from where he’d landed and striking a pose.

Rin smiled, "Yeah it is kind of silly." He conceded, standing from the bed as well, figuring they might as well start moving around. "Want to take a bath?"

"A warm bath."

"You don’t have to specify. Who doesn’t take warm baths?" Rin asked as Amaimon turned and left for the bathroom.

Amaimon shrugged, "Lucifer probably, he’s a weirdo."

Said the man with pointed green hair, eye bags that went on for miles, and a green lizard's tail. 

"Why does he act like that anyway, silly, I mean?"

Amaimon was quiet for a moment as he turned on the water, the sound of it splashing into the tub filling the silence. "Without Mephisto he’s just Samael." He said slowly, mulling the words over in his mind as he watched the water swirl about, steam rising from the surface. "You know how he feels, when he takes Mephisto off. That feeling like something isn’t right."

Rin nodded, placing his feet in the warm water but not quite getting in just yet, sitting on the edge so he could listen to Amaimon.

"You're not as affected by it because you’re a demon, a strong one, but it still makes you uneasy. It can even make me uneasy." He confessed, frowning for a moment, "The power he exudes is too much not to be focused on. When you feel it you get wary. For us that wariness can be a good thing, it helps our instincts be alert in a fight, and in our case specifically it can be fun to play with. That fear mixed with the right amount of pleasure is something we both enjoy." He grinned over at Rin, the younger's face red for the second time that morning. He couldn’t even deny Amaimon, knowing that doing so would be to outright lie. It was exhilarating to have Mephisto toy with his instincts in the bedroom, drawing the more demonic parts of himself out, satisfying needs he felt were repressed in his day to day life. "But for humans there is no plus side." Amaimon continued, drawing Rin's mind back out of the gutter, "Samael just frightens them and that can be dangerous. If he’s working with them it skews their judgment or makes them too suspicious of him and a lot of the time if a human is too frightened of a demon they just draw the demon in further. Our instincts push us to pray on weakness, to devour people mentally and occasionally physically. If the humans around him begin to behave as if they are being hunted Samael's instincts might push him to hunt, and that would ruin his games." 

"Wait you mean he might end up killing them?"

Amaimon nodded, settling into the warm water with an appreciative sigh. Rin followed him in, expecting further explanation, but Amaimon offered none. Rin supposed that for a demon Amaimon's answer had been more than enough. After all once he’d first fully transformed into his demonic self he’d felt no hesitation when contemplating killing his friends. The fear in their eyes along with his newly unleashed powers had kicked his instincts into overdrive and he’d wanted nothing more than to burn everything in his path, them included. 

He shivered at the thought of Mephisto and perhaps even Amaimon having to keep those instincts so closely in check. Would he become like that as he got stronger and stronger? Would he too have to learn to mask himself the way Mephisto did in order to keep those around him safe?

Before he could think too deeply about it and wind up down a rabbit hole Amaimon's tail draped across his lap, flicking expectantly. He looked up in surprise at the offering, a demon's tail something they typically kept close unless they trusted someone. He’d seen Amaimon’s tail plenty of times during sex and he took it out from time to time when they were relaxing, but it wasn’t often he handed it to Rin so willingly. However, the expression on Amaimon's face was less than playful, his arms crossed over his chest, "You owe me a favor." He stated bluntly, his tail flicking about yet again, Rin struggling not to focus too much on it and end up imagining all the dirty things the earth king could do with his tail when he was in the mood.

"Why do I owe you a favor?"

"I put up with you for your entire heat, that's why."

Rin couldn’t stifle a laugh at that, ignoring Amaimon' over acted glare, "Put up with it? Is that what you’re calling it now, it sure didn’t seem like that when you and Mephisto were having your fill of me."

Amaimon rolled his hand to wave away Rin's argument, "We still technically helped you, even if we may have enjoyed it, so you owe me."

"What exactly do I owe?"

Amaimon’s tail grew in weight, the earth king exposing his more lizard like form, "I’m shedding, you're going to help." He said as he summoned a rag, a soft looking rubber glove with small nubs adorning it, and some oil. "I was too distracted by you to take care of it properly."

Rin looked down at the thick tail, it’s typically vibrant colors muted under cloudy skin that was fraying off in ragged pieces. It didn’t look very comfortable. "What do I do?" 

Amaimon responded by sinking deeply into the warm water, "I need to soak for a few minutes before we start." He hummed, eyes closing as he became comfortable, "The water makes the skin soft."

He bobbed around for a little while, his green spike sticking out of the water looking rather silly to Rin and he couldn’t help the way his chest swelled with gentle warmth. Not many people got to see Amaimon look so content. He was happy to be one of them. 

While Amaimon relaxed Rin went ahead and cleaned himself. Despite Mephisto’s best efforts to keep him clean during his heat he couldn’t deny that he smelled a bit like a locker room, especially after their last round the night before. He took the time to thoroughly wash his hair and get the knots out of his tail, humming softly as he did and trying to ignore the way Amaimon's eyes tracked him. He liked the thought of Amaimon looking at him at him, enjoying how the demon king would watch as he cooked and sang small songs that came to his mind as he moved around the kitchen, but it he ever looked at Amaimon while he did the demon would look away as if to pretend he hadn’t been watching him in the first place. He smiled to himself, he’d let Amaimon look all he wanted. 

Once he finished Amaimon moved close to him, sitting on one of the benches in the water and laying his tail back in Rin's lap. "Okay, I’m ready." Rin nodding as Amaimon began to give his instructions, "Put on the glove and start massaging over the length, starting from the base. Move only from top to bottom. If you don't I'll cut off your hand." He said, voice so serious Rin couldn’t tell if he was joking or not. "The rubber will pull off most of the skin and then you can get anything that remains with the towel. Be gentle"

Rin took Amaimon’s thickened tail in his hands, feeling a ball of nervousness form in his stomach. He didn’t want to mess up and hurt Amaimon, knowing full well the pain of having his tail mishandled. He picked up the glove and slipped it on, flexing his fingers experimentally until it sat right, the rubber not wanting to go over his wet skin. Starting at the top as he was instructed, he ran his fingers gently from the base of Amaimon’s tail to the slimmer tip, skin bunching up as he went. “Can I grab some of it and peel it off, or should I just keep doing this until it comes off itself?” He asked, watching as some of the water managed to get under the shed, obscuring the red swirling pattern of his further. 

“You can peel it if you go slow.” Amaimon said, his voice a touch softer now and as Rin, bent forward so he could see Amaimon’s face he saw that his contented expression from before had returned, the demon king starting to enjoy the pampering.

Carefully Rin took his ungloved hand and pinched a bit of the skin towards his spine, slowly pulling it until it began to peel like a bad sunburn. Amaimon shivered as the skin gave way, revealing bright green scales underneath, a low sigh of pleasure escaping him. Rin repeated his actions, slowly rubbing down the length until the skin appeared loose enough to pull, removing it gently once it had, appreciating every low sigh and shivering moan he managed to pull from Amaimon.

Before he could get too into it though he switched things up a bit, laying the tail down on the part of the bench he'd been sitting on as he moved to Amaimon's front. He ignored the growing problem between Amaimon's legs and the growl that his movement gained him, instead taking Amaimon’s hand is his own and beginning to rub his scaled arms. "These need help too, don't they?" He hummed, smiling teasingly. 

"Yes, but they're easier to get on my own." 

Rin chuckled at the grumble in his voice, "Don't tell me this was all a game to get me to rub your tail, Amaimon. You know you can just ask for that." He murmured the words into Amaimon's ear as his gloved hand lowered to move against Amaimon's inner thigh. "I’ll have to help you with your legs too."

"You're worse than Mephisto." He snapped, hips thrusting expectantly to try and encourage Rin to touch him where he needed it, imagining the feeling of the rubber bristles against his cock. 

"You're the one who tried to scheme, so you'll have to be patient." Rin smiled, moving his hand away to go back to working on Amaimon's arms and claws. He drug his movements out, going slow and steady to get every last piece of skin, depositing it carefully in a bowl at the edge of the tub. He could feel Amaimon’s eyes boring into him, the sensation only making him smile wider.

He wiped away any excess skin with the rag as he'd been instructed, and made a show of pouring the oil Amaimon had provided into his hands, massaging it in gently. He took extra care with his hands and claws, polishing the scales until they gleamed and until Amaimon squirmed with anticipation. He gave the same all too gentle treatment to Amaimon’s legs, ignoring him again as he glowered and tried to shift into Rin's lap. "Stop moving, won't you?" He asked innocently, "I want to do a good job, you're scales are so pretty when they're clean."

The compliment caught Amaimon off guard, causing him to sit still long enough for Rin to finish with his legs, before standing up. "What are doing now." Amaimon asked, Rin loving the agitation in his voice. He got why Mephisto played so many games now. It was fun to watch him grow more and more frustrated while Rin himself knew exactly what was going on. 

"Your horns are scaled too."

Amaimon blanched and moved to cover his horns with his hands, "No, no, no. No one is allowed to touch them."

"You let Mephisto touch them. I've seen it." Rin answered smoothly, sitting astride Amaimon’s lap and finally giving the demon's length a bit of the contact he desired, grinding against him.

"H-He's different..."

Rin ignored the jealousy that tightened his chest at Amaimon’s answer, running his fingers through Amaimon’s hair gently until he was able to coax his hands away from his horns and gently angle his head down to kiss them. "Maybe I want to be different too."

Amaimon shivered under him, eyelids shuttering, "Rin that's...." his voice was low and soft, coming out slow, fingers gripping his arms. Rin felt the begins of a tremble there.

"I know." He said, tone reassuring, knowing what he was asking for and knowing that it wasn’t something that could truly be granted without Mephisto there with them. After all they belong to each other completely, asking to be a part of that would involve both of their consent. In the meantime though it was nice to watch Amaimon squirm under him as he moved his hands to rub the scaled horns, peeling away the dead skin. Amaimon buried his face in his neck, muffling moans. 

Moving onto toweling the scales off to get the last remnants of shed, Rin used his free, gloved hand to pay Amaimon's length some much needed attention. The demon keened as he got what he wanted, the soft rubber bristles massaging his aching cock as Rin stroked him in smooth, steady motions. Amaimon began to pant, bucking up into the touch, the bristles pulling at his delicate skin and sending pleasure sparking up his spine.

Rin finished with his horns, but he never moved to reach for the oil as he had for Amaimon’s arms and legs. Instead he leaned in, running his flattened tongue over one of them. The response he got was immediate, Amaimon bucking hard into Rin's hand, his claws burying themselves in his shoulders.

"Hah- aahn R-Rin!" Amaimon cried out as Rin repeated the action on the other horn, the sensation making him melt under the younger. 

"Feel nice?" Rin purred, knowing the answer and pressing his lips to Amaimon’s horns once again before he could answer, drawing another moan from him.

"Hnn!" Amaimon grit his teeth, eyes closing tightly, his body tensing up as the stimulation began to become too much. 

"What was that?" Rin pressed, his free hand coming up to fondle one horn as he licked the other teasingly, "I asked you a question."

"Y-Yes!" Amaimon admitted, desperation in his voice, his tail curling about erratically in the water as his hips rocked in steady time to Rin's hand around him.

"Yes what, Amaimon?"

"It feels good! Yes it feels...it fe-!"

Rin cut him off, biting down gently and drawing a scream from Amaimon at the mixture of pleasure and pain. His thrusts fell out of rhythm with Rin's hand, moving sporadically as he came into his fingers, claws burying themselves ever further in Rin's skin. "Mmm, good boy." Rin hummed, returning to gently licking Amaimon's horns while he trembled with the aftershocks of his orgasm, breathing slowly calming. After a few minutes of letting Amaimon get his bearings Rin spoke again, voice low with his own desire. "Bend over the tub's edge, I need to finish with your tail."

Amaimon's eyes widened at the command, quick to do as he was told as he gathered his knees under him and bent over, supporting his weight on his elbows at the bath’s wide rim. 

Rin got behind him and once more took the tail in his hands, finishing what he'd started, pulling all the shed away and brushing it with a towel before massaging the oils into the scales. The process had Amaimon panting again, overstimulated after his orgasm and already leaking against the tub's tiled side. "Lift your tail, I need to get the underside."

"Rin," Amaimon groaned, not thinking he could take much more teasing "Forget the tail and ju- ah!"

Rin ran his hand the wrong way down Amaimon’s scales roughly, the contact pulling a cry of pain from him as the delicate appendage was abused. "I said, lift your tail, Amaimon."

The earth king swallowed, wondering if Rin's heat really was over, he hardly got this dominate outside his season. He lifted his tail, presenting himself fully as he spread his legs, knowing that command would come sooner or later as well. Rin hummed in appreciation at the sight, the low rumble sending heat straight to Amimon’s groin.

Rin started at the tail’s base as he’d been taught, fingers dipping a touch to low, groves fingers brushing Amiamon’s entrance in a way that made him push back expectantly, but Rin ignored him continuing his work as if he hadn’t noticed. Amaimon growled, fingers flexing against the tub as Rin pulled the skin away and began to towel him off. “You know, this would have been so much faster if you’d just asked for me.” Rin teased once again, licking his lips as he oiled up his fingers, the time to do more than polish Amaimon’s scales.

Amaimon moaned appreciatively as the first finger filled him, back arching into the feeling. Rin tilted his tail up further, laying it up and over his shoulders as he got into a better position behind Amaimon. He wanted to tell him he looked so beautiful like this, back arched, legs spread for him, but he didn’t want to ruin the moment by giving Amaimon too much to think about it. He’d noticed before that Amaimon didn’t take compliments too well and having already admitted to wanting more from their friends with benefits relationship Rin was wary of saying too much.

He wasn’t ready for those words yet and he didn’t know if Amaimon and Mephisto ever would be. 

For now it was enough to watch as Amaimon bit his lip as he stretched him, filling him with his gloved fingers and thrusting slowly, finding the bundle of nerves that was his prostate and rubbing it until Amaimon’s ears lowered with pleasure.

“Rin.” Amaimon whined, opening his mouth to tell Rin that he was ready, that he was more than ready, but Rin didn’t give him the chance, removing his fingers and thrusting into him fully in one fluid motion. Amaimon cried out at the sensation, the feeling of being so filled as Rin bottomed out inside him almost bring him to his second tipping point.

Rin sighed as he felt Amaimon around him, taking his time to appreciate it now that his heat wasn’t driving him into a frenzied need to fuck anything warm. He pulled out slowly, pushing back in at the same rate, letting the pleasure wash over him as he closed his eyes. "Mm Amaimon you feel wonderful." He breathed, moaning low in the back of his throat as he wrapped his arm around the earth king's tail for leverage. Amaimon whined, pushing back onto him, wanting more and after a few more slow, shallow thrusts Rin decided he'd tease him enough for now.

He picked up his pace, slamming into Amaimon and gripping his tail hard enough for his class to burrow in past the scales. Amaimon hissed in pain, but still met everyone of Rin's punishing thrusts eagerly. Rin drank in the sight, watching his cock fill Amaimon where their bodies connected, something he didn’t think he’d ever get tired of. 

Leaning over he draped himself across Amaimon, pressing down on him with his weight and lifting one of his legs to rest it on the tub's bench, giving his thrusts more power. He struck Amaimon's sweet spot and groaned as the earth king tightened around him in response, crying out his name as he moved to reach for his stiff cock. 

Rin pushed his hand away, cutting off Amaimon's responding growl as he wrapped his fingers around him, once more letting him feel the soft rubber bristles of the glove wrapped around him. "Let me, Amaimon." He murmured, running his tongue along the shell of his ear, nipping at its sharpened point.

Amaimon became a mess of moans from that point onward, a stream of curse words and screams of pleasure falling from his lips in a seemingly endless torrent. Rin adored every second and he wished it could last forever, but he knew his end was fast approaching. "I want you to cum for me again." He growled, longing to feel Amaimon tighten around him as he finished before filling him to the brim with his own release.

Amaimon turned his head and pressed their lips together in a sloppy kiss, Rin meeting it greedily as he stroked Amaimon faster, watching as he began to fall apart in front of him. Their kiss couldn’t last for long, the two of them out breath, but Amaimon settled for pressing their foreheads together, "H-Harder please.." Amaimon begged, scrabbling at the edge of the tub as Rin complied, sweat teasing his bangs. 

He thought Amaimon's claws would pierce right through the tile as he finally hit his second orgasm, back arching as he moaned loudly, eyes wide and rolling back in his head. Rin was quick to follow, feeling Amaimon clench and pulse around him, burying his face in Amaimon's shoulder and stifling his own cries as he bit down, the taste of blood overwhelming his already taxed instincts, leaving him snarling as he pressed into Amaimon, finishing deep inside him. 

It seemed to go on forever and yet not nearly long enough all at once, the waves of his climax washing over Rin until the warmth of afterglow set in. A purr rose in his chest, Amaimon copying the sound as he slackened underneath him, fully satisfied. 

They laid there for a long moment, Rin’s eyes closing as laved his tongue over the deep cuts his teeth has cut into Amaimon’s back. The soft sigh the action pulled from Amaimon had Rin pulling away with a smile, pulling off the glove on his hand and running his fingers through Amaimon’s hair as he pulled out of him. Amaimon turned around slowly and Rin sat down on the bench beside him, turning his face to meet Amaimon's as he moved in for a kiss. It was slow and soft and ended suddenly as Amaimon yawned. 

"It’s nap time." He declared, eyes closing as he sank once more into the warm water, head just barely resting on the rim.

"You can't sleep in the tub, Amaimon."

"Watch." 

Rin did watch as Amaimon scooted away from him to the deeper section of Mephisto’s needlessly fancy tub and splayed his arms and legs out, laying on his back and letting out a fake snore. He rolled his eyes and stood, walking over to him and looking down, plucking Amaimon from the water effortlessly.

"Hey, hey I’m busy!" Amaimon complained, squirming a bit, but Rin figured that if he was really upset he would have broken his hold and splashed back down into the water.

"Mephisto made me promise I'd keep you from sleeping all day."

"And you kept that promise, we had sex, that's doing something. Duh."

"You know as well as I do that Mephisto won’t count that."

Amaimon grumbled his response, begrudgingly accepting what he knew to be true as Rin stepped out of the tub with him. He was helpful enough to grab towels from the stand nearby and Rin laughed as he unfolded one and placed it over himself like a blanket.

"You look like a damsel in distress." He chuckled, setting Amaimon down in Mephisto's huge bed. 

"Oh woe is me! A big nasty monster is preventing me from napping!" He huffed, turning around to weasel his way under the covers. 

Rin caught the tip of his tail and pulled. "None of that, we're going to my dorm to visit with Yukio and Sheimi."

Amaimon yelped in surprise at the touch before snatching his tail back, "That will have to wait." He growled, his eyes peeking out from under the blankets to glower up at Rin, grabbing one of his wrists hard. "I remember telling you that if you rubbed my scales the wrong way I'd cut off your hand."

Rin swallowed thickly as Amaimon forcefully tugged him into the bed for something that may or may not have been more painful than having his hand ripped off.


	2. Windup toy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rin has some questions for Mephisto, but he might not like the answers.

Anow 2

It took a few more hours to drag Amaimon out of the house, Rin beginning to worry that’d he’d get a reputation for being late since he’d already promised Sheimi he’d be over at his dorm earlier that morning. Amaimon grumbled that only Mephisto worried about being on time more than Rin as he snapped them to Rin’s dorm, depositing them in the common kitchen area.

He saw Sheimi jump in surprise as they popped into the room, but she melted into a warm smile as she saw Rin, setting aside a small set of tweezers that she had been using to prune a bonsai tree. "Hello, Rin." 

Her voice was warm and welcoming, lighting up the room around her in a way Rin had always found infectious. "Hey, Sheimi, sorry we're late. We got a bit...caught up."

Yukio let a huff slip through his teeth, flicking his eyes up from the paperwork he was working on. Odds were Sheimi had dragged him straight from his desk. 

"Oh no worries!" She said, either oblivious to or ignoring Yukio's efforts not to roll his eyes out of his sockets. "It’s nice getting to spend some time with Yuki." She smiled at him, but he was already buried back in his work, the tips of his ears red at hearing the nickname he tended to insist he didn’t like. 

Amaimon sat down next to Sheimi, watching intently as she returned to her work, carefully preening the small tree. "How old is it?" He asked, popping a sucker into his mouth. The two had formed an odd sort of friendship ever since he'd helped her escape from the cult she'd gotten swept up in. Rin knew it had something to do with a being named Sheimihaza, but she didn’t like to talk about it much. He didn’t ask her about it any more. A few weeks had passed since Amaimon has helped her leave and the first few times he'd asked had filled her eyes with a distant pain. Her voice would waver, lowering as her eyes averted. He didn’t want her to relive any fear or stress she must have gone through and Amaimon didn’t seem keen on giving up information either, so he let it be.

At the very least it was nice to watch his two friends get along more and more. It was an odd bond, but one he took a certain amount of joy in. He continued to listen in on their conversation as he pulled on his apron, rummaging around in the fridge for supplies for lunch.

"Almost a hundred years now."

"Very young." Amaimon hummed, fiddling with his nails. 

Shiemi nodded. "Some of them get to be a thousand, so it has a long way to go." 

A thousand years was an odd thing to think about. Rin's mind clung to the thought as he unwrapped some dough he’d prepared a week ago, kneading it slowly on the countertop to help warm it up from being refrigerated. Where would he be in a thousand years? He was still so young, Amaimon and Mephisto had both commented multiple times that he was only on his first century. How many centuries would there be? Forever? Forever was much longer than a thousand years and much harder to think about. In a thousand years all the people he knew and loved would be gone. Maybe he’d care for Sheimi's bonsai for her, or maybe she'd pass it on through her own family line. He’d meet new people. Lose new people. He’d seen Shiro die and that had been more than enough for several lifetimes. He didn’t know how much death he could take. 

By now he’d folded the dough a few times and begun to cut it into noodles, trying and failing to sink his focus into the motions. The up and down. What would he look like in a thousand years, what would Amaimon look like? Would he still look up at with those eyes that carried so much happiness even when his face appeared otherwise blank? Would he still bob about in bathtubs and whine about leaving bed? Would Mephisto still be Mephisto, or would he had a different name, a different body? Would he dress the same, talk the same? Would their hands still touch him the same way? Would they still let him hang around or would this odd fling have faded into obscurity, something that happened when he was young and wouldn’t be repeated?

A hand touched his shoulder lightly and he jumped, knife landing too hard on the cutting board. How long had he been cutting forcefully for? He looked over, eyes wild, meeting Sheimi's concerned expression with blind bewilderment. 

"Are you alright, Rin?" She asked softly, her whisper suggestion that she wanted to keep her question between them thought there was no doubt in his mind that Amaimon at the very least could hear them. Could hear his pounding heart beat as well.

"Yeah...yeah, yeah everything’s fine. It’s all good, I just got a bit distracted." He said in a rush, trying to brush away her worry, moving to pull the hooded apart and set them to boil.

Her expression betrayed that she didn’t believe him, but she didn’t press and for that Rin was thankful. He knew he trusted Sheimi enough to talk about some of the things that had been on his mind lately, but not in front of Yukio or Amaimon. That was just asking for trouble. 

"Want me to help you cut the vegetables?" She offered, Rin glad to have her there to help distract him from his worries. 

"That’d be great, they're in the fridge. Wash your hands first though."

She nodded and went to work, the soft sounds of them working together soon filling up the space with a warmth that only came from such familiar domesticity. If nothing weird had ever happened involving demons Rin liked to think that one day he'd be able to spend every day like this, cooking for the people he cared about. He wasn’t sure if that would happen now, there was still so much going on with the Gehenna gate and even though Yukio had gotten away from the Illuminati Satan still wanted to possess him, or Rin. Even if he did defeat Satan then he’d just end up out living all the people he cared about so what was the point of cooking anyway? 

"Is this good?" Sheimi asked, snapping Rin out of his once more spiraling thoughts. She reminded him in an instant why it was worth it, even if he lost people in the end. It was worth it because he’d rather have fleeting happiness than none at all. What was wrong with wanting to live for today, or the few years after? 

"It’s perfect." He smiled as he looked over her work, scooping them up and placing them in the broth he’d been working on. Moments like these were worth it. He may have lost Shiro, but he didn’t regret his time spent with his dad, why would time spent with his friends be any different? Those memories were important to him, so he’d make more. 

Amaimon shifted closer to them, sitting at the bench seat by the counter, leaving Yukio alone at the kitchen table. Rin wasn’t sure if he should be upset that Yukio had been left alone. On one hand it allowed Yukio to go back into being antisocial, on the other he wasn’t social with Amaimon in the first place.

He picked up one of the eggs on the counter and moved to eat it, but Rin caught him before he could, plucked the egg from his hand. "That’s raw." 

"So?"

"You can’t eat raw eggs you’ll get sick." 

"I don’t get sick." Amaimon argued, picking up another egg and eating it before Rin could stop him, crunching the shell between his teeth. 

"Ew." Sheimi laughed and Rin more than agreed as he watch Amaimon try to keep the liquid in his mouth before swallowing hard.

"I’m not coming anywhere near you until you brush your teeth. That’s a horrid way to get salmonella."

"I’m surprised you haven’t gotten it already." Yukio mumbled from the table, closing one of the files he’d been working on. 

Rin frowned at him, but thought it best not to respond. He knew that Yukio heavily disapproved of him hanging out with Amaimon, but he'd given up being concerned about it. He was a demon, half of one anyway, and he needed to interact with other strong demons in order to blow off steam. If he didn’t fight with Amaimon from time to time he'd start feeling too caged. He’d become unable to focus, his skin would feel like it was crawling, and sounds would become too loud as his senses became overloaded. 

Yukio could be upset about it all he wanted, keeping his instincts in check was more important. Did Mephisto feel like that sometimes? Caged. Rin never saw him use his powers or fight. 

"Are you done with...you know, by the way?" Yukio asked, avoiding eye contact as he packed away his work. At least he was making some effort to put his work aside. That was more effort than he’d put in in a little while.

"Wouldn’t be here if he wasn’t." Amaimon said offhandedly as he bothered to summon a tube of toothpaste, eating a bit of it. "There, clean."

Rin sighed as he watched Amaimon, but it was light natured, "Yes, I’m done." He said, actually glad Yukio had asked despite the mild embarrassment it brought. He had hidden his first heat from Yukio, ashamed of his nature, but as he had grown more comfortable with him he had managed to broach the subject. It hadn’t been the smoothest conversation, what talk with Yukio was, but at least he had understood. He knew a lot about demons and plenty of demons had heat cycles. It’d been a bit like walking on eggshells, but not the worst. "Don’t you go back to work tonight?"

"Yeah, my medical leave is up." He answered, taking the bowl of ramen Rin moved to give him. 

"Just take it easy okay?" He knew Yukio probably wouldn’t, he never did, but he tried to help nonetheless. Yukio had been on leave for the past month after coming back from the Illuminati headquarters. He hadn’t been seriously injured, but the an order therapist and psychiatrist had been assigned to him and recommended the time. They’d actually recommended more time, but with the all hands on deck orders from the higher ranks every walking body was needed. 

Yukio nodded, digging into his food. It was the most he’d seen him eat in a good while. Sheimi took her seat as well and Rin served her and Amaimon before eating his own bowl. For once Yukio didn’t try to dip out early.

After lunch Rin, Amaimon, and Sheimi went back to his dorm to relax and play video games. Sheimi still hadn’t decided if she would continue to be an exorcist, so her leave, for the time being, was indefinite. Rin knew Mephisto would let her deliberate as long as she wanted though, she was important in the game he was playing, he just had told Rin how. 

They said their goodbyes after a few hours and Rin went back to the Faust manor with Amaimon. Yukio's current mission would take him out of the dorm for a few days, not too long when compared to his missions in the past, but long enough to where Rin didn’t look forward to sleeping in an empty room. He spent the rest of the day with Amaimon, in much the same way he had for the past year, training, fighting, then relaxing. Yet, he found himself watching Amaimon closer than usual, closer even than he had watched him the month before his heat. 

He looked over at Amaimon as he played one of Mephisto’s video games, by now the sun was setting outside the wide windows, orange pink light filtering through the glass. It caught the gold in his eyes, the sight captivating him. 

He found himself scooting closer to Amaimon, laying his head in his lap. Amaimon looked down at him, but didn’t bother to say anything, instead he placed a flawed hand in Rin's hair and and ran his fingers through. It was something he'd picked up from Rin doing it to him. That was probably one of his favorite things about Amaimon, how he picked up little mannerisms here and there. Lately Amaimon had been picking up more and more of his own mannerisms, it made Rin happy watching them wind up mirroring each other.

"You two look cosy." Mephisto's familiar voice filled the gentle quiet, Amaimon tilting his head back as he leaned over the couch. Twin purrs rose in their chests as they kissed, Amaimon's tail flicking about contentedly. "Did you actually do anything today?"

"More than enough." 

"He ate an egg, raw."

"Oh lovely and I just kissed you." 

Amaimon stuck his tongue out, "That was a while ago."

"Did he eat the shell too?" Mephisto asked, coming around to the other side of the couch and lifting Rins legs up. He sat down and let Rin continue his lounging, this time with his body half across his lap.

"How else would I eat them?"

Rin felt Mephisto shiver underneath him, chuckling at the reaction. 

"I suppose that more than answers my questions," Mephisto sighed before placing his hand on Rin's legs, slowly slipping his fingers under the cuff of his pants. "I suppose we'll have to punish him for behaving so childishly."

Rin grinned, shifting to prop himself up on his elbow, "Definitely, he made a huge crunch sound and everything.

"Deplorable." Mephisto purred, pulling Rin up and into his lap. "Disgusting, utterly unacceptable."

"If was horrible you should have been there." Rin began toying with the buttons on Mephisto's coat, "I'll have nightmares for weeks."

By now Amaimon was growing lowly, the game paused as he looked over at them, "No fair." He huffed, gathering his knees up under him and scooting closer, but Mephisto shook his head.

"No, no you frightened poor Rin today, you're being punished."

"I thought you were going to get sick." Rin nodded, hands tugging off Mephisto's now unbuttoned jacket, sliding his hands under his wine red shirt. Mephisto tensed under the cold tips of his fingers, making Rin smile, he loved it when Mephisto was so eager to play with the both of them, especially when he teased Amaimon.

His hands settled on Rin's hips, lowering with each passing second to squeeze his ass appreciatively as Rin took his time undressing him. "You'll be a good boy and watch until I think you've had enough." He purred, taking his polka dotted cravat in hand and pulling Rin's arms behind him, tying his wrists.

"Hey!" Rin tried to protest, but before he could say more Mephisto pressed a finger to his lips.

"You should have stopped him from eating the egg, or at least warned me before I kissed him, you're being punished as well."

Rin pouted, but he couldn’t deny the arousal that filled him at the idea of Amaimon watching while he was tied up.

Mephisto pushed him off his lap and to the floor, jolting Rin as he fell, quick to pounce on him and flip him onto his hands and knees. "Stay on the couch, Amaimon." He commanded as leaned over Rin, warm breath brushing against the back of his neck, making him feel vulnerable as he imaging his fangs snapping around his spine. Fingers undid his belt and Rin had to bite his lip to keep from demanding him to simply snap his clothes away. He'd try to ask for him to before, only to have Mephisto go slower, purring that undressing him was half the fun. 

Still, he whimpered as Mephisto removed his belt, gasping as his hand grabbed the back of his head, tugging roughly in the strands of his hair. His face which was pressed to the floor was turned forcefully towards the couch. "Watch him." Mephisto growled, nipping at his ear hard enough to draw both blood and a moan from him as he set his hard lidded gaze on Amaimon. He sat, hands clenched tight at his side, knowing Mephisto wouldn’t want him to move even to remove his clothes, let alone touch himself. Rin swallowed thickly, the action hurting just a touch since his neck was twisted at an odd level. Mephisto palmed between his legs, squeezing his erection tight a low chuckle rumbling through his chest and Rin knew he was marveling at how hard he already was. Amaimon licked his lips, eyes focused and ready for the show Mephisto intended to put on for him.

Fingers slipped beneath the waistband of his boxers as Mephisto began to remove his pants. He helped Rin lift his knees as he pulled them off, every motion smooth and all too soft. He could feel Mephisto slipping away, Samael trickling into existence with every pass of his fingers. 

Lower half bared to the elder demon Rin uncurled his tail from his waist, lifting in to submissively show himself as he spread his legs without prompting, giving Samael a full view. The action brought claws to his hips, dragging down his flank to bring blood searing to the surface of his skin. He sucked in a sharp breath, eyes squeezing closed momentarily before shooting open in pain as his tail was tugged roughly. "I said, watch him." Samael reminded, keep his tail trapped in his grip until Rin attempted to nod, promising to do as he was told despite how hard it was to keep his gaze trained on Amaimon's own, especially as he heard a snap. He trembled at the thought of not seeing what Samael has summoned, so close, but out of range unless he wanted his tail yanked again or worse. 

A hand lifted his chin ever so slightly off the ground, fingers pressing to his jaw to force his mouth open and Rin received a quick answer as to what he had summoned. A ball gag filled his mouth, his fangs pressing uncomfortably against it as Samael snapped the back against his head, purring at the sound it made. Rin was foolish enough to think the gag would be the last toy summoned. 

Another snap was quick to come and this time Samael's hands went nowhere near his mouth, instead one hand wrapped around his length, making him whine at the stimulation, while the other moved to press something cold against his tip. Ice? No it wasn’t cold enough to be ice and the pressure was far too concentrated. Amaimon's eyes had moved from his own, staring at whatever Samael was doing and soon Rin knew why as the cold began to push into him. A strangled cry rose around his gag, fingers flexing to cut into the fabric around his wrist. A cold, metal rod pushed into his slit, moving fast enough to hurt, but slow enough to not cause damage his natural healing couldn’t take care of quickly. "Mm, your blood slicked it nicely, it went in so smooth." Samael hummed, twisting the sounder about, catching the ragged tears inside his cock and exacerbating them momentarily. Tears welled in Rin's eyes, but he refused to look away from Amaimon, focusing on how tense his body was and how tight his pants had become.

Blood slick fingers pressed at his entrance as Samael spoke again, "No one cums until I’ve had my fill." He said, burying his finger deep inside Rin, laying down his final rule. 

A slow, shaky breath left him as Samael began to stretch him, knowing with his healing it wouldn’t do much good, but Samael liked the little things. He also liked teasing Amaimon. He pushed back onto the demon, wanting to close his eyes and take in the feeling, but he couldn’t. He shivered as, after a few minutes, Samael finished his teasing, removing his fingers and rutting against Rin, a promise of what was to come.

Rin's eyes lowered in submission, his tail failing lip to one side, expressing without a doubt that he was more than ready. Samael ran a gentle hand down his tail, sending sparks in his spine, as a reward. His warm hand pressed to the small of Rin's back, the heat a stark contrast to how cool his skin had become while exposed to the open air. Samael pushed him into a better position, arching his back and holding his hip tight as he pushed deeply into him. It was nearly impossible to keep his eyes open as he was filled, but it was well worth seeing the expression on Amaimon's face, hungry and wanting as a low whine passed through his lips. 

"Lovely, isn’t he?" Samael asked, the warmth of his inside Rin filling the younger's mind with a needful haze. Amaimon was quick to nod, scooting closer on his knees, but not leaving the couch. "Come here."

Amaimon scrambled down, Samael reaching out to cup his cheek and dragging him into a searing kiss as he finally began to move inside Rin. Slamming into him slow and hard, every movement pushing Rin on his knees until they ached with rug burn. "The bathroom smells like sex." Samael said, "I suppose that's how he got you out of bed." His tone was playful, but Rin defected the undercurrent of jealousy he had heard there before. 

Amaimon tangled his tail with Samael's own, pressing their foreheads together in a gentle nuzzle. "Don’t rush off so early to work if you want to join in." He hummed, Samael snapping his clothes away, giving him permission to finally join them. Amaimon shifted to Rin's front and with Samael's help gently turned him around, laying him in his lap as Samael sunk back into him.

Rin's breath came out hard through his nose and muffling against his gag as he look up now at Samael instead of Amaimon, the time king keeping steady eye contact. He wanted to throw his arm over his face and avoid that penetrating gaze, feeling as if Samael was undressing him with his eyes despite the fact that he was already laid bare before him. Amaimon's length teased at his entrance, brushing along Samael's own with every thrust. Rin's mind grew hazy with lust as Samael nodded, giving Amaimon permission to push into him, slow and hard all at once, a demanding pressure he longed to give into. His head fell back against Amaimon's chest as a whine rose in his chest at the pain of being so full, the burning sensation slowly melting into a deep ache as his flush spilled over to his ears, neck, and chest. 

"Remember though, no cumming until I’ve had my fill." Samael growled, leaning over Rin, claws digging punctures into his hips as he kissed Amaimon again, drawing blood from his lips. Amaimon didn’t respond, but the way he stayed still while inside Rin even as Samael began to thrust up into him seemed to be answer enough for the time king.

A hand settled on Rin's length, Amaimon’s fingers wrapping around him and stroking. His head fell back, exposing his throat to the both of them, an offering quickly taken as two sets of fangs dug into him. 

Samael panted softly as his thrusts came faster and faster, his tail twitching about erratically. Rin wished dizzily that he was louder during sex, his noises almost always low growls and muffed groans pressed against his skin or lips. One of these days he was going to make the elder demon scream for him. 

A strong shiver ran up his spine as the image of Samael crying out to God as he fucked him filled his mind. The idea of making a demon, not just any demon, a king, say something like that had his hips bucking hard, a whine dying to escape him. His eyes shut tight, the pain of needing to cum but being denied by the sound frustratingly painful. 

Amaimon mouthed at his ears and cheek, taking his tail in hand and stroking it along with his ministrations on his cock. "Shh, you'll get to cum soon." He reassured, the words making Rin's heart swell with a now all too familiar feeling. He wanted to be Amaimon's completely, he wanted this to be more than just play, he wanted Samael to mark him so deeply he'd never shake their scents off him. He wanted to cum and cum while they watched and at least he’d get that wish. 

Samael's mouth covered his over his gag, tongue a demanding slide over his lips as he tensed, hands lifting Rin's legs to give him more leverage, filling him with his finish. Amaimon moaned softly at the feeling, Rin eager to wrap his legs around Samael's waist in an attempt to keep him as close as possible as they were freed from his grip, the other going lax in the afterglow. 

Finally Amaimon began to move, Rin purring as he pushed against his prostate, the feeling wonderful when paired with his slick Samael's cum had made him.

Just as he grew accustomed to the pace Amaimon set Samael began to move again too, a rough growl rumbling in his chest like distant thunder as he scrapped his fangs over Rin’s neck. He mouthed at his pulse, drawing dark bruises to his skin that faded almost as soon as they appeared. 

Satisfied from before his thrusts were no longer driven by greed, his movements slow, a torture compared to Amaimon’s scramble for release. He filled Rin to the hilt with each thrust, making him feel dizzyingly full. “ If you cum before me I’ll have your tail, Amaimon.” He warned in a low growl, grabbing the earth king’s tail in a firm grip, pulling until begrudgingly, Amaimon slowed his movements. 

Rin growled with frustration, craving the punishing movements. Samael smiled down at him, echoing his angered complaints, their chests pressing together until their twin growls filled him in a way sex never could. The sound of them intoxicating. He closed his eyes to feel it, drifting in them, shivering when Amaimon joined. Samael let him, his touches sinking into something soft as he leaned forward to kiss Amaimon deeply, their warm breaths washing over Rin’s sensitive ear.

Still sensitive from before Samael didn’t last much longer, a trembling gasp escaping him as Amaimon got his hands on his tail, rubbing the fur the wrong way. Samael's head dropped to Rin's shoulder, biting down as he rutted into him, harder again before with one final, rough thrust he stilled.

Amaimon moaned at the feeling of Samael cumming beside him, digging his claws into Rin’s thighs as he spread his legs wide, throwing his slow rhythm out the window in favor of hurried, desperate movements. 

Samael purred at the sight, watching Amaimon slip fully into his instincts for a long moment until he pulled out, Rin whining as he did. He kissed down Rin’s chest, dragging his claws over the half demon's skin, bringing bright red to the surface before chasing the blood with his tongue. 

Rin whined as he watched, trying desperately to move his hips in time with Amaimon's quick pace, wishing his hands were free so he he could pin the earth king down and ride him, or perhaps push Samael's head down faster. The agonizing pace he was taking towards his length was driving Rin mad in comparison to Amaimon’s quick thrusts, the difference in their paces making him dizzy. 

Finally, Samael ran his tongue over the length of Rin's cock, drawing a moan from him as he flattened it against the sensitive skin. He teased Rin for a moment, drawing his tongue in slow, deliberate strokes before granting him what he truly wanted, taking him fully down his throat. Rin forced his eyes open at the feeling, loving the sight of Samael's mouth around him, the bulge in his throat that outlined where he was inside him. Watching him choke never got old. 

He wanted to tangle his fingers in his hair and push him down harder, wanted to pound into him roughly. Luckily, Amaimon had that part covered, his rough thrusts pushing his cock down Samael's throat at an equally fast pace when the time king made no move to hinder his movements. 

Amaimon bit suddenly into the edge of his ear, snarling lowly, "He looks good like that, doesn't he~" Rin could only moan his answer around his gag, but the response made Amaimon grin, his tail lifting to coil around Samael's neck, forcing him down further as if tugging him with a leash. Rin could have cum to that sight alone and he wanted too more than anything, but the sound buried deep in his length prevented it. He let out a frustrated growl. "Shhh," Amaimon reassured him, hand stroking his tail gently, "Not much longer."

True to his word Amaimon wouldn’t last much longer and as he grew closer Samael pulled away from him, making Rin keen with need. Carefully he pulled the sound out, twisting it in a way that sent shivers down Rin's spine as he did. "Cum for us, Rin."

He didn’t need any more permission than that, his scream muffled against the gag as Samael swallowed hard around him. His tail lashed erratically across the floor as he came down Samael's throat, back arching as he tightened needfully around Amaimon who bit deeply into his shoulder. 

Rin felt his claws dig into his hands as his body tensed, groaning as Amaimon came deeply inside him, his head spinning. He barely noticed as Samael licked him clean, catching any drops of cum he had missed, too busy drifting in the afterglow. His tail curled languidly around Samael's arm, purring even as his arms aching when Amaimon pushed him gently into Samael's embrace and undid the ties around his wrist. The static that ran through his fingers as blood rushed into him made him groan with mild discomfort, curling against Samael tiredly.

Amaimon nuzzled against the both of them, still panting ever so slightly as he took his time undoing the gag in Rin's mouth.

Rin let out an appreciative purr, his jaw aching as he was finally able to close his mouth. Amaimon mouthed gently at the wounds on his shoulder as they healed, tracing the lines of his blood, smiling against his skin. 

"Have fun?" He purred, his fangs brushing Rin's back, threatening another bite and perhaps another round had Rin's eyes not fluttered closed tiredly, a loud yawn escaping him as he curled further into Samael's arms.

"You can’t rest just yet, Rin." Samael said, running his fingers through his sweat damp hair momentarily before snapping all three of them clean. "Let's get dinner."

"Nothing complicated." Amaimon hummed, wrapping his arms around Samael's neck, tail wagging as he decided what they should have, "Oh! Let’s get pizza!"

Rin's ears perked up at the suggestion, "Oh that one place that opened up down town a while ago is amazing!"

"I want supreme!" Amaimon demanded, moving to dig his hands through Samael's discards pant's pockets.

Samael snapped and his phone appeared in his hands before Amaimon had the chance to grab it, "We're obviously getting ham and pineapple."

"We'll get both." Rin said, taking his own phone out and dialing, "And their five meat special for me." He ordered quickly, telling the worker their address before hanging up. "You're paying, Mephisto."

"If it were up to me we would have only gotten one pizza."

"If it were up to you we'd be eating cup ramen." Rin hummed back, ignoring Mephisto's indignant response in favor of pulling on one of the robes Mephisto had begun keeping for him in his room, figuring it was better to be clothed when their food arrived. 

"You say that as if there's something wrong with cup ramen." Mephisto grumbled, pulling on his own clothes and moving to pick Amaimon up, settling down with him on the couch. Rin smiled as he watched the time king run gentle fingers down Amaimon’s bare back, moving to join them. 

"We had ramen for lunch." Amaimon yawned, his head settled in Mephisto's lap, arching into his mate's warm touch. 

Mephisto summoned a heated blanket for them, clicking on the tv and picking an anime Rin had never heard of. 

"What's going on?" Amaimon asked before the credits had even finished.

"Pay attention and find out." Mephisto shushed, the pupils of his eyes widening in excitement for the episode. Rin found himself watching as he reacted to what was going on, finding it endearing. He leaned happily against Mephisto’s shoulder.

"Why are they arguing, he could just kill that dude with the stupid hair." Amaimon pointed out. Mephisto chose to ignore his commentary for a few minutes, but once Amaimon decided the show was worth commenting on he didn’t seem to want to stop. "Why is he taking forever to power up? I could have punched him by now." He added, hands starting to move animatedly in a way that sort of reminded Rin of the way Mephisto would talk with his hands. He supposed the two had picked up a few of each other's habits after decades together. "Do all humans yell this mu-mph!"

Mephisto cut off his words with a kiss, leaning over him and dragging the touch into a deep motion. "Hush now, Amai." He murmured, Rin blushing as he heard the soft nickname.

Amaimon's eyes and pupils were wide as he wrapped his arms around Mephisto's neck, pulling him back into a kiss, tongue running delicately across his lips as he tilted his head into the embrace. "Mm, mine." He purred as he moved away after a few long moments.

"Yours." Samael said, tracing Amaimon’s cheek with his thumb and opening his mouth as if he were about to say something before a knock came at the bedroom door, a voice calling through it.

"Sir, your pizzas." Belial spoke through the door, Mephisto not even bothering to get up as he snapped his fingers to bring them to the coffee table in front of the couch along with some soda.

"Thank you, Belial!" Rin called back as Mephisto didn't bother thanking the demon.

Amaimon was quick to dig in folding four pieces of supreme pieces on top of each other and practically unhinging his jaw to take a bite. Rin smiled and opened his own box, all three of them settling in for a night of tv and good food, curled up warmly on Mephisto's couch. 

A few hours later Rin yawned as he sank into Mephisto’s comfortable bed, Amaimon crawling to his side while Mephisto joined him at the other. The two shared a soft kiss over him before they settled down properly. Mephisto kissed Rin's shoulder while Amaimon kissed his forehead, leaving Rin disappointed, wishing they kissed him like they kissed each other. He'd have to talk to Mephisto soon about making their relationship more official. 

For the moment though he worried about falling asleep, letting his mind drift as he breathed in their comforting scents, gently tangling his tail with both of their own. 

"...when did he ask...?" Mephisto's voice cut low through the hazy of Rin's sleep, but exhaustion drug him down, preventing him from waking fully. The bed was so warm and the demon's beside him had their arms around him, leaving him drifting in a half dream, their voices moving in and out as if waves washing along the shore of his consciousness. 

"In the bath...he knew what he was asking."

"No." Mephisto said, hard even when he spoke in whispers.

"Why not?"

"He doesn’t understand us, he’s probably thinks it’s like being in love."

"He knows we can’t, but he still wants us, so why not, so what if he’s a little confused, he’s young." Amaimon countered.

"You're mine." Possession crept into Mephisto's voice, betraying the jealousy he tried to hide from Rin. 

"And nothing's changing that...but many demons take multiple mates." Amaimon murmured, reassuring the elder in a way Rin had never heard him before "We both like him, Samael, he’s fun. I don’t see why we can’t have him."

"It’s not a matter of what we want. He still has a long way to go. He may not beat Satan and even if he does do you think he'll still want us after he learns of all the things we have done, all the things his human half would detest?" A sigh escaped him and even mostly asleep Rin could hear the frown he must have worn. "Even if he does live and he does actually want us, he’s still a nephilim and those only live two hundred years or so. We've no idea if he's immortal because of his bloodline, or just like any other half breed."

A long silence passed between them, Rin drifting close to full sleep as nightmares began to eat away at him. Two hundred years...was he really not immortal? He’d never really wanted to be immortal, it was a scary thought, but two hundred years? Two hundred years was long enough to watch everyone he loved die and now it was what kept Mephisto from agreeing to make them official. Would they remain in this stalemate for centuries? What of Mephisto's possessiveness, would it continue to fester? Amaimon was right, they both enjoyed him, so what was the difference, why the defensiveness? 

Questions spiraled through his tired mind as sleep began to fully reclaim him, dragging him into a fitful rest, yet before he could drift off Amaimon’s voice filled his senses one last time, tired and dripping in years old frustration. 

"It’s always about time with you."

When he woke up again Rin found the bed empty, the usually warm blankets cold as winter sun filtered through the windows. He curled in on himself, nose chasing the scents of the demon king's, wishing they were in bed with him. He found himself reaching out for one of Mephisto’s large anime plushies. He’d joked about them the first time he’d seen them, but now, alone, he found the shape comforting and it smelled like all of them together.

A sinking feeling filled his chest and stomach as he remembered the conversation he had overheard in the night. Had he overheard it or had it been a nightmare spurred on by his anxieties over his immortality, or lack thereof? 

He frowned, it hadn’t felt like a dream, as tired as he had been and even if it had he still needed to ask Mephisto why he didn’t want him in the same way he wanted Amaimon. His tail curled tightly around his body. It wasn’t a conversation he was looking forward to, but he wanted to stop being their third wheel and Amaimon seemed to want that too.

He wasn’t in the mood to stay in bed for much longer, thoughts eating away at his exhaustion until it felt like too much energy was pent up in his body, his legs itching towards movement. He sat up too fast and made himself dizzy, launching the covers and anime plush off him.

He scrambled to the bathroom, stumbling a bit before he shook off his dizziness. Neither Amaimon or Mephisto was in the room, making him wonder what was going on. He’d never woken up alone while with them. What was he supposed to do? 

Unsure, he took a quick shower and dressed in some casual wear that belonged to Amaimon. Usually Mephisto was around to summon him a new pair of clothes, but not today and he hadn’t seemed to have bothered remembering to get him some. He looked around for his old clothes, but Belial must have already taken them to the wash because they weren’t on the floor where they’d been left the night before. Why did Mephisto even need his clothes manually washed anyway? Couldn’t he just snap them clean? Rin shrugged at the thought, Mephisto was weird he probably thought cleaning the clothes the human way was quaint and therefore enjoyable or something equally ridiculous. 

At least Amaimon’s clothes fit him well enough, the pants were a touch short, but considering it was the weekend he wasn’t too worried. Besides having Amaimon's scent so close was nice.

He walked down to the kitchen, intent on rooting around for food. Amaimon had eaten all of the pizza the night before, even Mephisto's pineapple ham pizza despite his grumbling. Rin reached up into a cabinet, looking for a plate that didn’t look as if it cost a million dollars, but it was a worthless search. 

"Good morning, sir." Belial's overly professional voice came out of nowhere, scaring Rin half to death.

He jumped, clumsily dropping enough plates to pay his tuition, wincing as they shattered on the tile flooring. "S-Shit sorry!" How had he even snuck up on him? His senses had gotten better since he’d fully awoken as a demon, yet now that he thought about it he never heard Belial approach. 

Belial flicked his hand and the plates pieced themselves back together in a flurry of movement. Rin watching as they packed themselves neatly away in the cabinet. "Would you like me to make something for you, sir?"

Rin fought the urge to ask Belial not to call him sir, knowing from previous attempts that there wasn’t a point to it. "No, no it's okay, I’ve got it."

Belial swept the room with his sharp eyes, tilting his head in an expression of doubt he was too professional to say aloud before turning around to leave. 

Rin remembered how lonely eating by himself was.

Unable to put his mind and heart at ease he ended up eating quickly, psyching himself up for his visit with Mephisto. He felt his hands shake before he balled them into fists, walking to the time king's main office in the mansion. 

He had hoped he’d at least see Amaimon lounging on one of the room's couches, but no such reassurance met him, the room bare except for Mephisto sitting at his desk, all too empty and all too cold. He tensed automatically, the energy cooking around Mephisto unlike any he’d ever sensed off of him, even when he let Samael show. "Hey, um...there’s something I was wanting to talk about with you. Is now a good time?"

"I’m afraid I’m in no mood to talk." Mephisto said, refusing to look up from his stack of papers, pen scratching as it worked over them.

Rin stood quiet for a moment, unsure of what to do, he knew he really shouldn’t push Mephisto if he wasn’t in the mood. It was asking for trouble, but he didn’t know how much longer he could stay quiet...especially after learning he might not be immortal after all. The thought felt like it was festering inside him. "But, you have the time, don’t you?"

Mephisto sighed and laid his pen down on the table, rubbing the bridge of his nose for a long moment. Why did he seem so frustrated with him, Rin didn’t know what he’d done wrong. Sure, he’d asked for them to be official, but Mephisto didn’t seem the type to get hung up on relationships. Not like this, anyhow. "Yes, Rin, I always have the time."

"Oh." Rin wasn’t sure how to respond to his exhausted sounding answer, choosing to push past it and rip off the bandaid instead, "I, well yesterday I asked Amaimon if you, me, and him could, you know, all be together. Like officially, well demon officially anyway. The way you and him are...and he said that I’d have to ask you about it."

"No." The answer was short and clipped. Rin had expected a bit of a runaround if he hadn’t wanted to be with him, the sort of teasing he tended to give everyone when he didn’t want to give a straight answer. The blunt, definite response caught him off guard. 

"But I-“

"I said, no, Rin." 

"Why!?" Rin was surprised by the emotion he let slip, stepping forward on legs that refused to stay still, hands still clenched at his side.

Mephisto picked his pen back up and continued his work, it made Rin's blood boil. "I don’t owe you any more than my answer and it's no, now leave." 

"Bullshit you don't owe me an answer! We've been doing this...this thing for over a year now!"

Green eyes finally flicked to Rin’s own, pupils slivered to barely visible pinpricks. "You're a good lay, Rin, nothing more. I’m not interested in pursuing you further."

Tears welled in Rin’s eyes. A lay. Was that really all he was? He knew demons didn’t love but that was...that was cold and he knew there was more to demonic interactions than that, Mephisto and Amaimon were so warm and comfortable around one another. Rin knew they took comfort in each other’s presence and he took comfort in theirs. Shouldn’t that be enough? "Samael please..." he begged, wanting to at least know he hadn’t just been toyed with, but it didn’t seem to matter to the time king, who flicked his wrist, spinning Rin around unnaturally.

"I don't bind myself to mortals, now, for the last time, I said leave."

And with that Rin was flying out of the room, tossed unceremoniously out of doors that slammed and locked loudly behind him, leaving him a crumpled heap on the floor.

Mortal.

The word played like a broken record inside his mind, skipping over and over to send him right back to it. 

He was going to die after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my goodness! The comments I got on the last chapter were so nice T^T even now I’m not sure what to say but AAAAAAAAAAAA 
> 
> I hope y’all liked the angst and the cliffhanger.
> 
> Rip Rin while it’s still 2k19


	3. Oil on Water

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rin can’t seem to make anyone happy and when he finds out Mephisto's been keeping secrets he can’t keep it together anymore.

Rin stared down at his hands, unseeing. The tears that had threatened to leave him just moments before spilling over. He hadn’t thought it would hurt so much. He’d thought that as long as things didn’t change between them he’d be okay, he’d been okay before, after all. 

That wasn’t the case at all though and now his mind tore itself in two. He knew he should have been more upset about his mortality, and he was, but the hurt of Mephisto’s refusal burned brightly in his heart, twisting the back of his throat until he felt like he could hardly breathe. 

It was too much to think about, dying, being used. What about Amaimon? Did he feel that way too? All his friends would die within a hundred years and then what? Would he live a hundred more friendless? Would he try to interact with others or would he lock himself away like Yukio did, dragged down by the world and emotions he didn’t think anyone could empathize with? 

His trembling hands lifted to his hair, fisting there and pulling out strands. His breathing came too fast, chest rising and shrinking erratically. _'It shouldn’t feel this bad! It shouldn’t feel this bad!'_ He tried to scream inwardly at himself, but it only served to stress him out more.

Then, seemingly from nowhere, a hand cupped his cheek. He flinched, eyes snapping open to look up wildly, shocked to find Amaimon standing before him. Before he could stop himself he was collapsing into his open arms. In the back of his mind he knew that there was a chance Amaimon regarded him as nothing but a good lay too, but the comfort of his familiarity was too much to deny. 

Strong fingers tangled in his hair, bringing his face to his shoulder. "You talked to him?" Rin only nodded, drawing a sigh from Amaimon, "Let’s go back to the room." He didn’t wait for a response, snapping his fingers and bringing them back to Mephisto's bed, wrapping Rin in a blanket. "That bad?"

"He...he said he doesn’t attach himself to mortals." He gripped the front of Amaimon's vest tightly, "I’m going to die...aren't I?"

Despite the somber question Amaimon burst out laughing, stunning Rin. Anger bubbled in his chest at the sound, imaging that the earth king was making fun of him, yet the feeling died in his chest as he saw how Amaimon scoffed and before he could say something the demon spoke, "That's some of the biggest bullshit I've ever heard come out of his mouth!"

Rin pulled away from Amaimon's chest, blinking wide eyed up at the earth king, "W-What?"

Amaimon took a moment to calm, but when he did he flopped down fully onto the bed, folding his arms under his head and crossing his legs, "Samael has claimed humans before.”

"Wait, really?" Rin asked as he laid down beside Amaimon, supporting himself on his elbow. If Mephisto had lied about that then was it really as simple as he had said, Rin was good for sex but they weren’t otherwise compatible? "So he just...doesn’t want me?"

"No...I don't think that's it." Amaimon admitted, looking up at the ceiling, "Samael's been mulling something over for a long time now, I wouldn’t think he said anything true in that office." 

"Even about me dying..."

"We aren’t sure about that," Amaimon said, frowning. He seemed to be mulling something of his own over, though Rin wasn’t sure if he could guess what it was. "There's never been a nephilim of Satan." 

An uneasy silence settled between them, Rin glanced out the window, dreading the passage of time, the return of Mephisto. He wasn't sure what would happen when he was done with work. After an unbearable amount of time Rin was no longer able to stand the quiet, forcing himself to talk, to say something, anything, "What does it mean to claim someone? I know it's different than what we have now, but what is it?"

Amaimon took a while to respond and for moment Rin debated asking something else. "The most obvious difference is that other demon's can tell when you belong to each other. But..." he paused, fiddling with his finger nails in a nervous habit, chewing at their sharp points, "The real difference is that if all of the mates are demons then when one demon dies their power goes to those demons. If a demon has claimed more than one mate then their power gets divided up, but in our case if I die Samael would get all my power."

Rin looked over at Amaimon, sitting up to focus better. "Your power would transfer to him? How does that even work?"

"Claiming binds the aspects of demons, a demon can claim a human, but humans don't have aspects, so that bond can't ever be completed fully. Still, Samael has claimed humans before."

"What happens when a demon without a mate dies?"

Amaimon's gaze became distant, looking away from him and out the window. "Their power goes to who killed them...even if that person is a human. That human may become consumed by the power, but they may meld with the demon, taking in their powers and traits."

"You mean...like the demon eaters?" Rin asked, thinking back to what Yukio had told him about the members of the illuminati who had consumed demon's to gain strength.

"They are very similar, however, sometimes when a human eats a demon it continues to live inside them. I’m referring to permanent death. Once that human dies, the demon's aspect ceases to exist because humans cannot transfer aspects to others." 

"So...if Samael were to die, you'd become the king of time and space?"

"Yes."

Tension wound through the room, Rin's mind working towards something, the gears in his mind grinding. Why did this feel like he was in the edge of something? Why had Amaimon frozen up? Why did he look away? Rin didn’t understand, "Samael...he must, he must trust you a lot." Amaimon only nodded, Rin slowly reached understanding. "Lucifer...Satan...they're the only ones strong enough to kill him."

"Yes." Was there a waver in Amaimon’s voice?

A small gasp escaped Rin as it clicked fully. He stood from the bed, walking around to stand in front of Amaimon who still refused to look at him "Are you...is that why you're together? Are you his failsafe!?" Anger burned in his voice, Samael was playing both of them. If he lost this stupid war his power would go to Amaimon, Amaimon who hated Lucifer as much as him and who knew Rin enough to push him ever forward towards beating Satan. This was plan B, or C, or D or X,Y,Z it didn’t matter. Even if he was out of the picture he would still be dictating their moves. 

Amaimon looked down at his lap, "You don’t know anything about us."

"If he dies you become him and then what, you play all the games he's already set up!?"

"I think you should leave."

Rin nearly stumbled in surprise, his lips pulling up to expose his fangs unintentionally, "Excuse me?"

A low growl tore its way up Amaimon's throat. "I said leave."

Rins hands balled into tight fists, "And what if I don't?" He asked, his anger making him foolish. Why wasn’t Amaimon more upset about this? Why wasn’t he angry at Mephisto like Rin was? 

Amaimon didn’t answer him, though Rin could see the options flickering in his gaze. He was angry enough to attack, the way he tensed his shoulders was evidence enough of that, but he made no move to physically harm Rin. Instead his power flexed in the air, making Rin feel as if the weight of the world had been dropped on his shoulders, his entire body becoming ten times heavier. His knees buckled under the weight as Amaimon stood, drawing up to his full height to look down at the younger demon. Rin tried to move, pressing his palms flat to the floor to assist him, but the moment his fingers touched the tile he could not remove them. His entire body felt like lead, trembling under the weight of itself. "I will not have you assuming anything about Samael's and I's relationship. You were raised human and don't understand the depth of it, you're foolish to pretend otherwise." He flicked his wrist and Rin toppled over as the weight receded all at once, sending him sprawling. "Leave, you’ve insulted me enough."

Rin opened his mouth to protest, but the words never came. His body moved on autopilot, scrambling to his feet quickly and quietly before leaving with a hurried glance behind him. Amaimon had turned his back towards him, face buried in his hand, looking exhausted. 

The door to the mansion seemed to slam behind him as he stepped out of the Faust manor and into the all too bright sun. He looked down at the brick work that made up Mephisto's driveway, unsure of what to do. Just the day before he had figured they would all be official by now, yet there he stood outside the house and alone, having fought with Mephisto and upset Amaimon. 

If they were only friends with benefits before what were they now after a fight?

Did Rin even want more after what had happened, after what he had learned?

Without much thought he made it back to his dorm, his body falling into the well known path back to his room as he struggled to work out his feelings. He found he couldn’t remember the walk as he looked at his empty room. A note on his desk told him that Yukio had gone on a mission and wouldn’t be back for several days. The branch was struggling to keep up with all the demonic activity since Mephisto had dropped his hold on the Gehenna gate and they were working most of their exorcists to the bone. Mephisto had pushed up their exams and had even pushed for new recruits, attempting to streamline the process of training exorcists. In a few instances a couple of non exorcists had managed to fend off a demon from an area, though those cases more often than not had been connected to families that took care of temples. They may not have been trained, may not have even believed in demons before, but had managed on old superstitions and tricks. Rin wondered idly as he plugged in the room’s heater if people knowing how to exorcise demons would become a common occurrence, as normal as riding a bike or using a cell phone. 

What would a world where everyone was an exorcist look like? Sure, Rin didn’t like the frequent demon attacks, but it had been difficult enough having his friends find out he was a demon. What if everyone knew? It would be impossible to make everyone happy, to assure everyone in the world that he wasn’t dangerous. He couldn’t even seem to make Yukio happy, or Mephisto, or Amaimon, how was he supposed to please everyone?

Tears welled in his eyes as what had happened at the mansion began to press down on him like Amaimon's powers, his worried mind spiraling right back to the subject he didn’t want to think about. He collapsed into his bed and cried. He loved the two demons, he knew that was true. He’d fallen for them over the past year and although he’d known they couldn’t love him back the rejection and the arguments wanted to tear his heart in two.

His tail curled around him as he wrapped himself in a heated blanket, but he found no comfort, tossing and turning until he felt the bed dip at his feet. He looked up from his blanket, watching as Kuro stepped over to him, his forehead bumping against Rin’s arm.

“Rin.” Kuro said, looking up at him with worried eyes and not bothering to put his question into words. 

“It’s okay, I’m fine.” Rin lied, looking away from Kuro in a stubborn attempt to hide the truth.

Luckily for him though Kuro didn’t seem to want to push him to say anything he wasn’t ready to, curling up beside him and flicking his tail over his arm as Rin pet him absentmindedly. 

"I think..." Rin said after a long quiet, "I think, I want to go home."

Kuro lifted his head, "The monastery?"

“Yeah, Yukio is gone for the week and I don’t want to be stuck in this cold dorm alone." He sat up, wrapping the warm blanket around him and wishing Mephisto had put him up in a room that wasn’t so drafty. "It’s winter break, I should go visit." And get out of the painfully empty dorm, the last thing he needed was to be alone with his thoughts and from the constant reminder that Yukio was still running from him. 

"You should make a hot pot!" Kuro said excitedly, hopping off the bed and grinning in a way that soothed his worries. He didn’t know what he'd do without Kuro. 

"We'll go to the store before we get there." Rin agreed, starting to pack a bag and pull on his jacket and shoes. He looked down at his phone before he tucked it into his pants pocket and saw that he had no messages. He switched it to silent, he didn’t want to talk to Mephisto or Amaimon anyway. He looked down at Kuro and bent down, picking him up and opening the hood a bit on his jacket to give his familiar room. Kuro crawled in and curled up, adjusting a bit as Rin pulled on his backpack. 

The store was crowded with holiday shoppers, grocery carts full of food just like Rin's was. He imagined there would be a lot of dinner parties in the city tonight. He picked up a bag of salt then promptly put it back down with a grimace. Why were half the items in this store mephy brand? It made it difficult to get the food he wanted, Mephisto's stupid face plastered all over the labels. 

What didn’t that demon have his hands in?

He sighed and turned his buggy to the checkout line, normally all the reminders of Mephisto were comforting but now he found he couldn’t stand to be in the store any longer. 

The monastery brought with it the warm, familiar comforts of home. Izumi and Maruta greeted him at the door. He hugged the both of them, he hadn’t been back since Misumi's funeral a few months back. He really should visit more, he thought to himself as he looked around the congregation hall which looked somehow the same as it did when he was a child while still feeling drastically different. Every time he came here he could sense the emptiness of it, without Shiro it just wasn’t the same and now without Misumi, who had worked there since he was a child, it was even more different. He remembered why he didn’t visit as often as he should. 

Luckily with the holidays drawing near they didn’t ask him why he’d stopped by, but he did have to explain that Yukio wouldn't be visiting. They were understanding and Rin found his own guilt over not demanding Yukio stay home more often soothed by their kind words. 

"Sir Pheles always used to send Shiro out on long missions around the holidays, not sure what for, but I guess Yukio's no different." Maruta said as Rin prepared the ingredients for the hot pot meal, drawing a wry laugh from Izumi.

"He did it because the two of them were always at each other’s throats, didn’t need much more reason than that to send him out in the cold." Izumi said, plucking a raw mushroom from a bowl beside Rin, just barely avoiding getting his hand slapped.

"No sneaking food!" Rin laughed, though the sound died in his throat as he thought about how Amaimon would have done the same thing. "Old man he...he never told me about Mephisto." He murmured, more to himself than to the others as he chopped vegetables.

"Well, he couldn’t." Maruta pointed out, helping Rin out by bringing the pot to the table and bringing the seaweed broth to a boil. "Had to keep all of his involvement with the order under wraps after all." 

Rin brought the vegetables, meat, and sauces to the table, smiling at Kuro as he jumped onto the table. As much as hearing about Mephisto pained him he couldn’t help the curiosity that rose inside of him. Shiro had never told him about the demon and Mephisto in turn never talked about Shiro beside the few, admittedly hurtful, quotes he’d said before. "What were they like, back then?"

"Unbearable."

"Insufferable."

"Impossible." Kuro threw in in his voice only Rin could hear as he paced back and forth, waiting for the food to cook. 

The answers surprised Rin, but as soon as he tried to picture the two interacting it made sense, they were both as stubborn as mules after all. He couldn’t imagine Shiro putting up with Mephisto’s antics. He’d seen them interact in the past a few times, Shiro's threats while standing on Mephisto's desk in particular. That attitude couldn’t have faded. 

"Could never tell what was up with the two of them." Maruta added as he tucked into the meal, Kuro and Izumi close behind. "One moment they’d be fighting, the next Mephisto would invite him to his mansion and they’d be like old pals again."

"Shiro always said the director was his closest friend, but watching them bicker the way they did made it hard to believe." Izumi said as he took some meat from the pot, kindly handing it over to Kuro.

"I sometimes wonder how Sir Pheles took..." Maruta paused for a moment, his lighthearted tone falling away as he looked down at his food, "Well..you know how he took Shiro's, I mean he wasn’t at the service." Rin remembered seeing Mephisto for the first time, the demon showing up late the day of Shiro's burial, after the crowd had dispersed. "Not something I think a friend would do."

"But he’s a demon, they aren’t really concerned with things like death." Izumi reasoned, his mouth full of food and perhaps if this was a different conversation Rin would have smiled at how ridiculous he looked. 

He couldn't smile though, not when the words rubbed him the wrong way. He looked at Kuro, reaching out to pet his head gently. Kuro was a demon and when Shiro had died he’d been inconsolable. To say something as broad as demons didn’t care about death didn’t make sense.

The rest of the meal passed slowly, but at least they moved on to some lighter subjects after a few minutes. After they finished Maruta and Izumi refused to let him wash the dishes, insisting that since he had cooked he absolutely would not be cleaning, so he settled for taking his bag to his old room and unpacking. Kuro followed close behind him, hopping onto Yukio's empty bed. Rin breathed in the familiar scents of the room as he unzipped his backpack and placed the few clothes he'd brought into his old drawer. He missed this place, and his old sheets and blankets which he took the time to smooth down properly on his bed. Not even Mephisto's huge bed was as welcoming as the one from his childhood, the memories it carried with it making it a comfort nothing else could compare too. 

Yawning he sunk into the worn blankets, burying his nose in them and trying to remember a time when his life wasn’t so crazy. The bed dipped and Kuro joined him by his head, twin purrs rumbled through their chests. At least Rin didn’t have to worry about Kuro dying or leaving him. 

His eyes opened blearily a few hours later, his bladder nagging at him. He frowned and burrowed beneath the covers, hoping to just fall back asleep if he ignored it, but after a few moments he gave in, figuring it was better to go to the bathroom than struggle to fall asleep. He stretched, ears flattening to his head as his body tensed. He shifted Kuro gently to the side as not to squash him as he got up, shivering a bit as his feet touched the cold wood floor beneath him.

The monastery was dead, the only sound in the darkened hall the ticking of the clock on the wall. He walked to the bathroom, eyes still mostly closed, before they opened on the way back to his room a few moments later, confusion filling him. 

Light filtered from under the door of Shiro's study, shadows moving in the room. A chill ran up his spine. Who could have gotten into Shiro's study at this time of night and why? No one had gone in there since before he had died. They had found the room locked tight with an incantation they hadn’t been able to break. According to Misumi, who had still been alive at the time, the spell was laid by Shiro himself to protect order secrets, but now none of them could get in, not even though the windows. They'd decided to just let it be. Whatever was in there could stay, the people who needed to know probably already did anyway.

Rin approached the door slowly, avoiding the spots in the floor he knew creaked from years of sneaking out of the house. Pressing his ear up against the door he tried to hear for activity in the room, but he knew that if it was a demon who had managed to get in they would likely be just as quiet as he was. He sniffed, trying to pick up any scents, but found none. Still the movement he could clearly see under the door had set his nerves on edge. 

Carefully, slowly, he turned the door knob. The magic on the door flared to life, deep purple scrawling across the gate. He looked down at the symbols written in Shiro's familiar scrawl, his strokes peaking as they always had when he’d see his father write. Still, upon further investigation they rubbed him the wrong way. The power they hummed with was now achingly familiar. The symbols were written is Shiro’s hand, but this was Mephisto's magic. He traced his fingers over the marks, they burned lowly, the sensation of pain increasing with every passing moment.

His own magic flared to life, blue flame covering his body. His magic pushed against the symbols, slowly turning the deep purple a brilliant blue as it crawled up the symbols, burning them away. He pushed his will into his flames movements, wanting to get into the room to see who was on the other side. If it was an Illuminati spy who knew what sort of info they would find in there, especially concerning his birth. 

_'Should I call the others?'_ He wondered as Mephisto and Shiro's mixed powers melted away under his own. He shook his head, no, he didn’t want anyone else to get hurt. He would do this on his own, he would stop whoever was in there. 

Finally the door gave way under him, the symbols burned away the doorknob turned and clicked open. He flared his power around him, the flames rising higher as he burst through the door, hoping to catch whoever was in there off guard.

The door banged against the wall, Rin found himself in a dark, cold, empty room. All alone. 

Strong light poured through the window from holiday decorations on the houses outside, gold christmas lights glittering in the snow fall. The overgrown tree in the monastery’s back yard scraped against the window, casting long ominous shadows. 

No one.

It had been no one. 

His heart beat hard in his chest, the adrenaline that was rushing through his veins had nowhere to go as his flames flickered and died. He stood in the room, cold sinking into his bones for a few long minutes before he found himself stumbling forward. No one had been in this room since before Shiro's death, maybe there was something in here for him and Yukio, he had died so suddenly, maybe he’d hidden some information.

He sat down at Shiro's desk, hands smoothing over the wood desk. It felt weird being in here without his father in the room. Flipping through the books on his desk Rin found nothing but sermon notes and highlighted bible passages. He began to dig through Shiro's drawers, but there was nothing. Why was there a block in the door if there was nothing to keep safe? Rin growled lowly in mounting frustration, moving the messy pile of papers in the drawer haphazardly when his hand brushed against a rough spot. He pulled the papers out to look at the cut in the wood he had felt, tracing his fingers over it. Another symbol. His flames gathered once more at his hand, lighting the sign up until he heard a sharp click, the bottom of the drawer popping up.

This was it, his breath caught in his chest as he saw the file folders that were hidden in the false bottom. He pulled them out as if they were made of glass, laying them down on the desk. He flipped the front open and was met with the looping, curling handwriting of Mephisto. He checked the date, not long after he was born. In his letter Mephisto instructed Shiro to never communicate information about Rin over the internet or text. There was also a reminder of the contact Mephisto had on his life, the threatening tone sending a shiver up his spine. Yet, it was the last line that really caught his attention.

_"Oh and do come by sometime soon, I've got some new whiskey for you to try and a few clothes I’d like your feedback on ~ <3"_

Feedback on? Why would Mephisto want feedback from Shiro on an outfit? Last time he’d checked Shiro wore mostly his priest clothes and painfully awful dad clothes. He hated suits. 

Rin continued to flip through the letters, slowly picking out lines in the letters the two had sent to one another, some long, some short notes that must have been carried over by familiars for how close the responses seemed. Something he had never imagined clicking in his mind with rising horror.

_"Miss your stupid face, clown."_

_"The Bed is cold without you ~ <3"_

_"Not as cold as my ass in this damn snow you sent me out into."_

_"I could warm you up ~ <3"_

His hands shook, fangs elongating in anger as he clenched his jaw tight. The two of them had been involved? The two of them had been involved and Mephisto hadn’t _fucking_ told him? 

And then the papers caught fire, his eyes flying over the pages.

_"You know I don’t like being away from you this long."_

_"Aw, Shiro, missing me already are you?"_

_"It’s the claim, you know that, being so far from you, your aspect, it's maddening. But fine, yes, I miss you, idiot."_

Claim.

_Claim!?_

The papers crumbled to ash in his hands and once his fire started it didn’t want to stop. That son of a bitch had looked him in the eyes, told him he was a good lay and turned him away for potentially being mortal! The room filled with fire as he became determined to destroy every last one of the letters. Get rid of the evidence of what had been kept from him.

Mephisto didn’t give a shit about him being mortal, he really had only been a toy. There was no hidden motive, no secret reason. Amaimon had told him as much and it had hurt then, but not like this. Not like how it did when he knew Mephisto had claimed Shiro, his own dad, then had the guts to tell him no, to lie to him and hide from him. 

A growl ripped from his throat. Used! He’d been used by the both of them! Amaimon must have known about this! He’d been with Mephisto long enough to have known Shiro, maybe even claimed him too. His ears elongated, flaming tail lashing behind him as his claws dug deep gouges inot the wood beneath them. He flung the books off the desk. 

Why wasn’t he good enough? He wasn’t good enough to save Shiro! He wasn’t good enough to help Yukio! He wasn’t good enough to be wanted by Mephisto or even Amaimon! Was he doomed to fall short his entire life? 

He kicked Shiro's desk chair the bits, he wanted to tear his hair out, he wanted it to stop hurting. Where was he even supposed to go from here!? He’d spent one year with them, spent one year being lied too. What would happen the next time he went into heat? Did he even want them to touch him? He had standards, there had to be a line. How could he forgive this? 

He wanted to tear the room apart, he wanted to scream, he wanted to burn everything to the ground, but he stopped dead in his tracks as movement out the window caught his eye. 

His rage stalled in his chest. 

There out the window, facing the cemetery behind the monastery an all too familiar white cape rippled in the winter wind.

His heart thudded in his chest as he watched transfixed as Mephisto knelt in front of Shiro's grave. What was he doing here, at this time of night, Rin wondered. Why go through the trouble of coming here now, years later, when he hadn’t even attended his friend's, his claim's funeral. 

Rin's hands clenched into fists. How dare he. How dare he come here and pretend he cared about anyone other than himself. It took a fair amount of strength for him to keep from jumping through the window. 

Stalking out of the monastery he tugged on his jacket by the door out of habit despite the fact that cold didn’t have much effect on him since he’d fully awoken as a demon. The snow crunched under his feet as went around to the back. "Go away!" He yelled over the wind, frown on his lips. It was a bit childish to just tell Mephisto to fuck off, but he wasn’t sure how to put his feelings into words. He wasn’t even sure if he could with how angry he was. "Leave!" Mephisto stood slowly and turned to him, but he didn’t say anything, just stared at Rin like he was some carnival attraction. Rin growled lowly as he came closer, "Gone deaf, I said go away!" 

"Rin, your eyes are warped." Mephisto said in the low, soothing tone he always did when Rin lost control of his powers.

"I don’t care about my eyes, I said leave! You're not welcome here."

"Look Rin I know you're upset, but I just wanted to visit the graveyard, I didn’t even know you were here. If I had known I certainly wouldn’t have come" 

"Go." Rin's voice was tinged with a non-human edge, the snarl gathering at the back of his throat threatening to spill outward. "I never want to see or talk to you again."

"Rin, that’s quite impossible, as your bo-“

"Impossible! You mean impossible like how you can’t possibly take a mortal mate! I read your letters to Shiro, I know that's a bunch of bullshit and I know you're using Amaimon too! Don’t act like you can get out of this one, go away!"

Mephisto's eyes narrowed, "I am not using Amaimon and you shouldn’t be poking around in things that aren’t yours."

"Why didn’t you tell me!" Tears stung his eyes and he hated that they did. He’d wanted to come out here and in no uncertain terms tell Mephisto that they were over, that he was tired of being toyed with, not break down. "Why did you lie to me!"

The older demon let out a long, slow sigh. "Fine, I'll be going." He said, avoiding Rin's questions in favor of moving to walk past him. Rin didn’t let him, reaching out to grip his upper arm hard, claws piercing through the thick fabric of Mephisto's jacket. Dark blood welled up around the cuts, staining the white coat and dripping onto the snow beneath. Mephisto tensed beneath him, scowling. "Let me go."

"Answer my question, Samael."

"I thought you never wanted to speak to me again, Rin."

"Why did you lie to me? Tell me."

Samael ripped his arm out of Rin's grasp, _"No."_

Rin growled as Samael walked away from him, blue fire bursting back to life. He grabbed Samael's wrist hard and before the time king could react he tossed him hard back towards the graveyard. Rin heard something snap, his eyes widening as Samael stumbled back, red erupting under the white of his pants, a gruesome accessory to the blood on his arm. Had Rin thrown him that hard or was his host even worse than he'd thought?

Samael grimaced and looked down at his leg, for a moment it looked as if he would forgive Rin for the outburst, but then he looked as saw which grave he’d been pushed into and the tipped over headstone. "How dare you push me onto him." Samael hissed, voice like an ice cube sliding straight down Rin's spine as he fixed Shiro's gravestone. 

Rin didn't even see Samael approach after he righted the stone before he was sent reeling, a hard slap sending him flying across the yard and ramming into the wrought iron gate. His head ached, but his instincts couldn’t have cared less. A pillar of fire rose up from him, snarl piercing the air between them in a near howl, "Push you into him, you shouldn’t even be here! It’s your fault he’s dead in the first place, if you cared so much you should have been here! You could have saved him and you didn’t!" Rational thought began to slip away completely as he launched himself forward, intent on tackling Samael to the ground, fangs, claws, and ears elongated. 

Samael dodged easily, but the fire that raged around him made it hard for even the time king to get physically close. He summoned a plethora of chains, the metal flying at Rin at a rapid pace. Rin screamed as they enveloped him, squeezing tight as Samael tried to end the rampage he had slipped into, but it was useless, his flames melting them in an instant. 

When once the feeling of molten metal would have made him scream now the pain only brought a laugh peeling from him as he lifted his hand, claws still covered in blood from where he’d grabbed Samael's arm. His tongue curled around his claws, licking his fingers clean as his smile widened, revealing rows of razor sharp teeth. "Now, now Samael, chains? That's cheating." He purred, stalking forward, tail lashing behind him in a hypnotic dance of blue fire. 

"Rin, I know you're upset, but you need to come back to yourself." Samael said, his voice only slightly betraying his own nerves as he took a few steps backwards. Rin stopped his retreat however, his power flaring up around him.

It was more than his flames, it was his very being, Satan's very being, the whole of Gehenna. The power flexed and poured into the world around them as if it were air rushing into a vacuum, knocking Samael back and bringing him to his knees. He’d felt one of Amaimon’s fits before, felt the whole of earth's gravity focused on his own body. This was far worse. This pressure frayed the edges of his very being, threatening to shatter his aspect to pieces, melt it down and make it part of itself again. Consume. 

Consume and leave him as nothing, leave him as never having existed in the first place and there would be no hole to fill in reality because Rin’s power would fill the space instead. Fill it before anyone could tell the difference. 

Samael's teeth ground together, his host screaming at him. His body...how long had he had this body, this gift. He shook his head as best he could, casting off old memories as blood welled in his eyes and slipped down his cheeks. He needed to focus. Letting out a slow breath he summoned more chains, moving them to wrap around Rin.

"Now you're being uncreative on top of cheating!" Rin laughed, flames reaching out to burn the chains before they got to him, only to howl with anger as a sharp spear pierce his right shoulder, impaling him. He tried to wrench away but more spears appeared from nowhere to anchor him to the spot. Through his arms, legs, and torso they filled him. 

Samael panted with the effort the magic took from him now, his host too weak to be pushed so much. He looked down for just a second, exhausted, sight blurring and dancing with little black smudges. He felt dizzy and like a heavy blanket had been laid over his mind, more blood poured from his eyes and nose, the scent overwhelming him.

A sick crack filled the air as Rin forcefully tore his right arm from the spikes impaled there, his bones shattering as they gave way under the force. He reached over and pulled a spike in his other arm, yanking it from the ground and through his shoulder. 

Samael pulled up a shield, only to hiss in pain as the fire Rin spiraled around the spear drilled through his magic, shattering it as the younger demon sent Samael's own weapon piercing through his chest. Samael choked on blood, puking it up along with what looked like black oil. His demonic presence. He couldn’t take an assault from Rin's powers, he knew that. Any more and his host would reject his possession further, forcing out more black oil and him along with it. He reached behind his back and pulled the spike from him, trying to breathe despite his lungs being injured.

He took one last look at Rin.

Then he bolted.

He ran as fast as his legs could carry him, too worn out to teleport more than a few feet at the time. Rin tore a war path behind him. He ran out of the city, leading him away from crowded areas, knowing it was the least he could do and not knowing what came next for once in his life. 

This fight would be the death of his host, then what? He wasn’t in a good position to look for a human strong enough. He’d put it off for too long. He’d thought...he’d thought he’d have more time.

Samael cursed himself inwardly, his feet stumbling more and more with each passing second. Rin's power dogged at his heels, pressing down on him again and part of him couldn’t help but want to give in, want to return to the fires from which his concept was born, to become nothing again even as his conscious mind longed to exist. 

The city scape fell away, the houses growing more and more spaced out, the glow of light fading behind them. Samael could hear Rin laughing behind him and in a sudden burst of power he was seen sprawling to the ground, fire lashing at his back, burning his cape and the jacket. He flipped over just in time to catch Rin’s wrists in his hands as he pounced on him. "R-Rin." He hissed, eyes clenching shut as Rin pushed down on him. Flames stole his breath, burning off the oxygen around them. He choked, a silent scream escaping him as his skin began to melt off. 

His powers struggled to keep him alive, sparking out of his control as his instincts pushed him to flee even when escape wasn’t a possibility. He tried to teleport away, but Rin's power flung him back under him before he'd reformed fully somewhere else. His eyes watered as a Rin forced his body to reform incorrectly, his arms and legs twisted in unnatural angles as he was spliced, caught between destinations. Rin's strength was actively suppressing his own and his host couldn’t hold up to the injuries. 

He snarled through the pain, teeth and ears elongating in a threat he couldn’t carry through. His horns exposed themselves involuntarily, Rin grinned releasing his hold on Samael's useless arms in favor of curling a hand around one of them, pressing down hard. Samael screamed at the pain, his tail slipping from his clothes to thrash wildly before in a last ditch effort he coiled it around Rin's neck, choking him hard. 

Rin couldn't have cared less though, his fire searing through Samael's tail, his hand pressing until his horn fractured. Samael's heart began to spark into existence, forming above his chest despite how he tried to hide it, knowing that if Rin touched it then more than just his host would die. The horn was the last straw though, Rin pushing until the cracks grew and grew. With a deafening crunch Rin ripped his horn from his head, Samael's heart exposing itself fully as agony overtook him.

"This will make for a fun souvenir, don’t you think, Sammy~" Rin cooed, voice sickly sweet, looking over his broken horn as if it were a precious stone, before his gaze refocused on Samael's heart. "I think I'll be keeping this too." He smiled, reaching out with bloody claws. 

Samael braced himself for the pain, but nothing could have prepared him for it. Every atom in his body tried to rend itself from him. He puked up oil, gagging on it as Rin burned him alive. His vision blacked out, but even dying he could hear the loud thunk that rang through the clearing they had found themselves in.

The pressure on his heart released, the fire receded. 

He sucked in a sharp breath, turning over as best he could as a wracking cough overtook him. Through the tears in his eyes he could see Amaimon standing over him, metal pipe in hand. 

Rin clutched his head, groaning for a moment. Amaimon tried to come to Samael, but he never made it. His strike had only stopped Rin's rampage for a moment and in the next second Rin sent him flying. 

He rushed forward, enraged that he'd been denied his kill, back handing Amaimon hard. The earth king tumbled across the ground, skipping like a rock across water before slamming into a tree. His body wrapped around the trunk, a cry of pain escaping him as he snapped in half, crumpling broken to the ground. 

Rin moved to pursue him, but weak arms wrapped him, weighing him down. "S-Stop, Rin, don’t hurt him....this is between us, not you and A-Amaimon." Samael wheezed, trying to lock his arms tight around him. 

Rin paused, Samael's words ringing through the haze in his mind as he stared at Amaimon’s body, fraying at the edges of his conscious. 

"You're not mad at Amaimon, y-you're mad at me."

Amaimon's body lay in a heap, unable to move just yet. Rin stared at him, something was wrong...something was wrong and he knew it. His brows furrowed together, "A-Amaimon he...he's hurt."

"You hurt him, Rin."

That didn’t sound right. Rin blinked a few times, looked down at his blood stained hands. "I..." he flexed his fingers slowly, flames dying spout around him just as he caught the scent of burn flesh. His gaze focused on Samael's arms, the deep burns blistering the skin, the twisted, broken fingers. "I lost control."

He felt Samael nod behind him, but no words came. He’d hurt him too. 

Rin shifted, taking Samael's arms in his and hefting him over his back as he got to his feet. Samael groaned lowly, breathing out tiredly. Rin dragged him over to the tree, Amaimon's eyes lifted from the ground, a terrifying snarl escaping him. His pupils were slivered, teeth bared in a threat. 

"It's okay...it's okay." He tried too soothe, wincing as he heard Amaimon's spine snap back together with a crunch. He scrambled forward and at first Rin thought he would attack, but the blow never came. Instead Samael was ripped out of his hands, Amaimon clutching him close to his body. Another snarl ripped from deep in Amaimon’s chest. 

Samael reaches out and gripped Amaimon's hand, "It's fine...I'll be fine..."

Rin couldn’t tell if he was lying or not, but the words were enough to pull Amaimon's eyes off him and down to the time king, Amaimon pressing his nose against his neck, feeling out the weak pulse. He ran his tongue soothingly across his jugular, smoothing away some of the blood there. 

"We need to get him back to the manor, Amaimon." Rin said slowly, wanting to reach out and help somehow, but not knowing how to.

"Like you know anything about what he needs." Amaimon snapped at him, smoothing his clawed hands through Samael's sweat drenched hair, careful to avoid his broken horn. 

"I’m sorry..." Rin said softly, still breathing hard from the fight, breath curling silver into the night air, "but we need to get him out of here. Let me help, please." 

Amaimon looked away from him, still growling lowly for a long moment before he let out a frustrated huff. "Fine, but only until we put him in his bed, then you leave."

Rin consented to the terms, nodding surely as he reached out. Amaimon shifted Samael in his arms, positioning the time king between them, slinging his arms over their shoulders. They lifted him up together, then Amaimon took a step forward. Rin didn’t follow, stumbling a bit, "Wait, why aren’t we teleporting?" 

"His body won’t take it now, he's already been spliced, any more teleporting and he'll probably lose an entire limb." Amaimon explained, voice low and still carrying a threat. He stepped forward again and this time Rin followed, not looking forward to carrying Mephisto all the way back to the mansion. Luckily it didn’t seem like that would be the case, Amaimon snapping a phone into existence and dialing. "Belial, we need a car at the north gate to the city, immediately, we'll meet you there." He said into the device, snapping it close and disappearing it after. "Come on, we just need to get across the field and to the road."

Rin nodded, helping Amaimon carry Mephisto who had passed out, but at least his breathing had stabilized. "What is splicing?" He asked quietly, looking over Mephisto's twisted legs. 

"Your power pinned his aspect down, when his body tried to flee, to teleport, his aspect couldn’t come with him. He was only able to reform partially elsewhere before he was pulled back, his body couldn’t arrange itself right." 

"Oh..." Pain filled Rin's chest, he’d never fucked up this badly. He’d nearly killed Mephisto, he was upset at him sure, but he didn’t want to kill him. He didn’t want to kill anyone. He tried not to think about what would have happened if he’d ran into a human, heaven forbid one of his friends. 

Amaimon scowled, but said no more as they came to the edge of the road just in time for bright headlights to wash over them. A black car pulled in front of them, rolling to a controlled stop. Belial got out of the car and for once Rin saw an expression other than exhaustion and frustration on his face. Worry. 

He already knew he’d fucked up, but enough to make Belial of all people outwardly worried? 

Rin swallowed thickly.

Belial rushed to open the back door of the car, his gloved hand gripping the door handle just tight enough for a Rin to notice it was too tight. Amaimon pulled Samael's top half from Rin, backing into the car. Rin took his legs as gingerly as he could, following him into the car.

They drove in silence, the street lights flashing by in a blur. The only sounds were the windshield wipers pushing the falling snow out of the way and Mephisto's bones clicking into place. 

Amaimon kept his power expanded past him at a low, but steady level. A constant reminder that he still felt threatened, that he was still upset, and he would still bite if cornered. 

The mansion felt hours away.

Mephisto was conscious again by the time they got home, but still a touch too out of it to say something. His brows seemed to be glued together, trapped in his thoughts. 

They shambled to the bed, helping Mephisto lay down. Amaimon leaned down and kissed him gently, snapping him clean and into comfier clothes. He reached into his pocket and pulled out Mephisto's broken horn, placing it in his hand. Rin hadn’t noticed him pick it up, but he didn’t question it, figuring he must have summoned it into his pocket as the left the field. What really confused him was how Mephisto lifted it to his face, awed expression dawning in his eyes. "Never had one come off." He said, turning it over in his newly healed hands. "They grow back?"

Amaimon laughed just a bit, some of the tension in his body seeping away, "You've seen mine grow back, idiot." He changed into fresh clothes too and moved to lay down beside Mephisto, curling against his chest. "You'll be lopsided for a while, but you'll be okay." He lifted his gaze to Rin's own, narrowing slowly, "We had a deal, leave."

Rin nodded, turning away, his tail curled tight around his legs. 

A hand wrapped around his wrist and he was tugged back roughly. Mephisto whipped him around, shocking both him and Amaimon. He pulled Rin down towards him, spare hand tangling in his hair. Worry spiked through his veins only to be snuffed out by lips pressing hard to his own. He gasped, Mephisto taking the opportunity to deepen the kiss, claiming his mouth possessivly, the same way he did Amaimon's. 

He'd never kissed Rin with so much fire, so much need, Rin didn’t understand. 

"Wh-“

"Stay."

Amaimon didn’t seem to understand either, looking over at Mephisto as if he’d lost his brains in the fight along with his horn, "But, Samael..."

Mephisto pressed a soft kiss to Amaimon's lips, his healed tail tangling with the earth king’s own. "Let’s worry about tonight tomorrow. For now, let’s rest." His eyes closed as if to say there would be no further protests from the two of them. 

Amaimon sighed softly, but it sounded good natured enough to Rin and he lifted his hand. In a snap Rin was clean and he moved to settle into bed with them. Amaimon looked at him, turning towards him and extending a white flag between them in the shape of a small kiss to his forehead. 

It wasn’t total forgiveness, Rin wasn’t foolish enough to believe that, but it was a truce. He scooted closer to Amaimon, watching closely for any signs that he should stop approaching. However, Amaimon tossed his worries out the window as he lifted his arm, allowing Rin to scoot right in against him. He wrapped his arm tight around Rin, breathing out a slow, tired sigh. "No more fighting like that." He scolded and Rin almost laughed, of all the people he’d never thought he’d get told off by Amaimon.

Rin nodded and closed his eyes, exhaustion overwhelming him as he yawned, nuzzling into Amaimon's warm scent.

Whatever happened in the morning happened, for now he was just happy Amaimon had come to their rescue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aw beans a Christmas upload 
> 
> How y’all like ^-^
> 
> Kudos and comments appreciated as always <3
> 
> I changed the chapter title because I didn’t think to name it before I finished so I threw on a random title and had to think of one.


	4. Under and Over

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mephisto takes Rin back to the past to explain a few things he’s been hiding. 
> 
> Also, this chapter switches between calling Mephisto, Mephisto, and calling him Samael. The difference is that when he’s referred to as Samael he is more in touch with his own emotions, he isn’t filtering himself through 'Mephisto' for the sake of others or for himself. I do say for himself also because there’s some parts of him he’s not too fond of and sometimes he chooses to look away from those parts even if that only makes certain problems worse.

Samael's eyes blinked open slowly, the pink canopy above him blurry until he rubbed the sleep off. A yawn cracked his jaw, his entire body seemed to groan. He placed a hand on his forehead, the pounding there incessant. The night before came back to him as his dreams wore off, flashes of blue fire, the pain of having a horn removed. 

Rin.

He had a long day ahead of him.

At his side Amaimon curled possessively around him, the pressure a welcome comfort despite the aches and pains in his still damaged, rotting body. He looked down at him, smiling. Amaimon's eyes were furrowed together as if he could be angry even when sleeping, a deep frown on his lips. With the hand that wasn’t clutched in Amaimon's embrace Samael reached over and brushed his fingers through the earth king's wild green hair. 

His thoughts returned to how Amaimon had looked the night before, metal pipe in hand, defending him. He wished he hadn’t been fighting Rin. If Amaimon had hit anyone else like that it would have brought a blush to his cheeks, as it was though the memory only worried him. 

Rin was human. No if, ands, or buts about it. Sure, genetically speaking he was half demon, but he'd been raised human. His heart and his mind were mortal, through and through. 

How would he take the fight?

For demons a fight was a fight. It didn’t have to be anything more. If Rin was a demon the fight would have meant nothing, not really anyway, not if Samael was willing to put it aside and he was. It was his fault anyway...he knew that. 

With Rin though there would be all these feelings tangled up in it even if Samael said it was okay, even if he apologized. Rin would feel guilty and torn. He would still be upset about what had led to the fight and what Samael had hidden from him. 

Rin was a human, he didn’t fight to settle his problems like demons did, he fought to express anger and grief, two very human emotions. 

Samael had realized what he had to do as he'd been hoisted onto Rin and Amaimon's shoulders the night before, right before he passed out. 

He needed to tell Rin the truth, heavy as it was.

He turned over and hugged Amaimon tightly, burrowing his face again the earth king's neck and breathing in his familiar scent. The younger demon groaned a bit, huffing a deep, tired sigh against his hair. "You’re an idiot." He grumbled quietly, brushing his lips against Samael's forehead, "Almost got yourself killed, you’re supposed to be the smart one. It’s not my job to keep you safe."

He was right, it wasn’t Amaimon's job, but Samael was glad he’d gone through the trouble. Although the both of them dying would throw quite the loop in his plans. Then again, it was his schemes that had landed them here. "It won’t happen again."

Amaimon let out another huff of air, Samael didn’t have to look at him to know he’d rolled his eyes. "Better not."

Samael pulled away from him and leaned up, kissing him slowly, deeply, a soft reassurance. His fingers traced the point of Amaimon's ear, their foreheads meeting as the kiss ended. "Thank you for coming for me."

"I looked cool when I hit him, admit it." 

He smiled, his tail giving Amaimon’s own a squeeze as he laughed, "You did look pretty hot." He paused, appreciating just for a moment the way Amaimon squared his shoulders pridefully before he spoke again, "Where is he, by the way?"

"The bathroom, said he wanted to take a shower."

Samael turned and looked at the bathroom door, frown on his lips, "I should go to him." 

"And tell him what?" Amaimon asked, fingers tracing through Samael's hair, watching his conflicted expression. 

"Not sure yet," he said and in some ways that was true, but for the most part it as lie.

Amaimon saw through it, pinching his ear in a slight reprimand, "Well whatever you tell him could you maybe not piss him off so much?"

"Try not to." He agreed and leaned down for one last kiss, "Might take a while though."

Amaimon sat up and shifted his arms around Samael's shoulders, "Don't keep me waiting." 

Samael nodded, summoning a necklace to his hands. It was long and a dark, almost brown gold. From it dangled a small hourglass, bright sand filtering up and down inside of it on a loop. He lowered it gently over Amaimon's head, "A bit of my aspect." He said softly, granting Amaimon the gift so that he wouldn’t feel the pain of separation. 

Amaimon’s tail gave his own a tight squeeze as he left the bed. "Don’t break him." He said, voice turning hard for only a split second. Samael couldn’t promise that much. 

The bathroom was full of steam, the shower running full force. Mephisto took the time to take off his clothes without magic. "It's me." He said just loud enough to be heard over the water.

Rin dropped the shampoo bottle he was holding, the noise louder than it had any right to be as it clattered to the shower floor. "O-Oh, hey Mephisto, what’s going on?" He stuttered, Mephisto could see how tense his shoulders were even through the fogged glass door. 

"I was wondering if I could join you."

"Oh..." Rin paused for a long moment, bending down to pick up the shampoo bottle and place it on a shelf, "If... If you want, I guess."

Mephisto stepped quietly into the shower, frowning at what he saw as the warm water washed over him. Rin had backed up in the corner of the shower, tail wrapped across his hips, arms crossed over his chest. He stared at the wall, eyes hidden under damp white hair. "Rin..." Mephisto sighed softly, reaching out to touch him, but his hand stopped halfway between them, his own nerves getting the best of him. "Look, what I said in my office wasn’t true. I’m afraid I said some pretty nasty things yesterday, I'm sorry."

Rin’s eyes widened, the younger demon turning towards Mephisto in shock. He had never heard Mephisto apologize and really mean it. Even if he did regret something he almost always tried to force an explanation for why he was in the right, or how his hands had been tied in the situation. This time though he'd just said sorry. "Why did you say it then, if you were lying."

"I didn’t want you to ask me again." He answered honestly, tempted to fiddle with his tail but knowing such a nervous fidget was unbecoming of him. "I wanted you to give up."

"Then why are you telling me all this? If you wanted me to give up you would have stayed in bed."

"I want," Mephisto frowned, it was quite hard to put into words what he wanted, but he supposed what he wanted for Rin in the short term would have to be the working explanation, "I want you to give up, but I also want you to know why."

"Why?"

"I'll explain in a little while, for now, can we put it behind us?"

Rin frowned, turning slowly to Mephisto, body language opening up a bit as his arms left their position over his chest. "For now...and," his fingers reached out and for a split second Mephisto tensed, something that certainly didn’t go unnoticed by the younger. Gently Rin cupped Mephisto’s cheek, “I hurt you. Are you okay?”

Mephisto sighed and leaned into the touch, taking it as a good sign that Rin felt they had gone back to how they’d been the day before. “I’ll be okay, don’t worry about that.” Slowly he stepped closer, watching for any signs he should stop as he pressed his forehead soothingly against Rin’s own. 

Rin’s spare hand lifted to Mephisto’s chest, balling into a strained fist. He grit his teeth against an onslaught of emotions, tears hidden by the shower streaking down his cheeks in a hot rush. “I lost control, I almost killed you. I would have killed Amaimon to. I was mad, I’m still so, so mad it hurts but...but what if Amaimon hadn’t shown up....Samael...I-“

“Shh, it’s over now, I’m alive, Amaimon’s alive.” He murmured, but it didn’t seem to help, Rin shaking his head. He was so human, every day reminded Mephisto of that more and more. Unsure of what to say to soothe Rin further in a way that wouldn’t confuse him even more he leaned down and pressed their lips together. 

Rin froze underneath him and Mephisto barely contained a growl. Had this been a spat between Amaimon and him they would had already been between the sheets. He tilted his head, deepening the kiss, hoping to convince Rin that they were fine. 

It didn’t work though, Rin pulling away, palm pressed firm against Mephisto's chest, not pushing, but holding him back. "Don't." He looked down at the shower's floor, but Mephisto could see how his eyes had warped already. 

"Ri-“

"Tell me...tell me I’m not just a good lay."

"Rin, I already told you that was a lie." 

"I want to hear you say it." 

Mephisto tilted Rin’s head up, staring down into his eyes, they really were pretty, as dangerous as they had the tendency to be. "You're not just a good lay, Rin. I enjoy that part of our interactions, yes, but I enjoy much, much more than that about you." It felt odd to admit such a thing, he was hardly ever so open, but considering what he was about to show Rin it was a good idea to reassure him as much as possible. "The explanation is going to take a while," he murmured, smoothing a hand through Rin's hair, "We'll have to go back in time."

Rin blinked, confusion filling his gaze, "Back in time? Again?" He asked, his tail finally unfurling from his waist, relaxing to instead twist around Mephisto's own. "How long will it take?"

"A while I’m afraid. I’ve already told Amaimon and I’m sure he'll tell your friends." He said, squeezing Rin's tail gently in a gesture of appreciation for the trust Rin had quietly conveyed to him. 

"He is getting along well with Sheimi." Rin conceded before doing something that quite surprised Mephisto. He leaned up and kissed him needfully, turning him around and pushing him to sit down on the shower's bench before straddling him. "So this is going to take a long time, huh?" He smiled, nosing at Mephisto's throat and purring at the familiar scent. "I remember the last time I went to the past, I hardly had a moment to catch my breath. I think I should get some things in order before I go." 

Mephisto shivered, scraping his claws gently down Rin's spine, "Mm, you do need to make it up to me for my horn, I’m all lopsided."

"Oh poor you." Rin purred, lowering his hand down Mephisto's chest, brushing his fingers teasingly along the time kings stiffening length. 

"I’m uglier than I’ve been in my entire life." He hummed, squeezing Rin's ass appreciatively. "You, on the other hand, looked absolutely stunning last night." He kissed Rin hard, slipping his tongue past his lips as claws dug into Rin's hip, drawing him close to thrust their lengths together. "I enjoyed seeing your power out in full force, it was enough to make any demon weak in the knees. You're going to make quite the king~"

Rin nipped at Mephisto’s ear, hiding his momentarily pained expression, hoping that Mephisto would mistake his shaky sigh for arousal and not the sadness he hid. He didn’t know what would happen after they went to the past, he didn’t know what would be revealed, but he did know it was likely that Mephisto would pull away from him. Maybe this was the last time, maybe they wouldn’t get this chance again. He wanted to make sure they had one last time together, one last time after their fight that he could remember fondly. "Touch me, Samael."

"Mm, with pleasure~" Mephisto purred, slipping two fingers deep inside the younger demon, watching as he pulled back just enough to see his flushed cheeks, a gasp on his lips that he was quick to steal with another deep kiss.

Rin was glad that he hadn’t seemed to have noticed his sadness, smiling as he allowed himself to sink into the moment. Perhaps what came next wouldn’t be fun, but this could be. He brought their tails to his mouth and bit down, drawing twins groans from the both of them. He rocked back against Mephisto's fingers, wanting more despite knowing he wasn’t quite ready for it. Mephisto was quick to grant him his desire, pushing another finger deep inside of him, brushing against Rin's sweet spot and drawing a moan from him. "Samael, please."

Mephisto scrapped his fangs over Rin’s throat, stroking them together as he stretched the younger demon, "So needy already~" he hummed, taking a long moment to appreciate the flush that was steadily spreading from the tip of Rin's ears all the way down his cheeks. He was glad Rin had initiated, he didn’t know if they’d do this again. Rin didn’t seem like the type to be okay with them being friends with benefits forever and for all of his pouting over his horn he knew he should be the one making it up to Rin, not the other way around. 

He slipped his fingers out of Rin and summoned a bottle of lube to them. Rin leaned forward needfully, taking ahold of Mephisto’s cock and lining it up himself. The time king chuckled at the sight, hold Rin steady as he slicked himself generously. Rin kisses him hard, biting his lip ever so slightly as Mephisto took his hips and lowered him down. They both moaned as Mephisto's head pushed past Rin’s tight rim, sinking into the heat of him.

Rin rocked his hips, feeling the warm, familiar pressure of Mephisto filling him. It felt like heaven to have him inside, stretching and filling him. He let out a slow breath as Mephisto bottomed out, rolling his hips with more coordination now, placing his hand on Mephisto’s knee so he could lean back just a bit and ride him. 

Mephisto drank in the view, keeping a firm hold on Rin's hip with one hand while the other moved back between them, stroking his length in time to how he bounced. He shivered at how Rin tightened around him, thrusting up hard into him.

Rin gasped as Mephisto moved, cock brushing right where he needed him, rocking his hips harder, biting his bottom lip hard. 

Mephisto's nails dug into Rin’s hips, drawing dark blood to the surface before he couldn't hold back anymore, standing suddenly and pushing Rin against the shower wall.

"S-Samael!" Rin cried out in surprise, legs wrapping haphazardly around his waist, clawing at Mephisto's back.

He didn’t let Rin's protests get far though, stealing his cries with a deep kiss, biting at his lips and licking away the blood as he thrust up hard into Rin. His tail squeezed Rin's tight before twisting the wrong way against it, rubbing Rin's fur the wrong direction, making him squirm. 

Rin's head fell back as Mephisto pounded into him, wet hair ruffled in a way Mephisto just couldn’t take his eyes off. 

The time king was quick to sink his fangs into Rin's exposed neck, growling with pleasure as warm blood filled his mouth, smearing against his lips. 

Rin screamed, teeth gritting as he tightened needfully around Samael's cock, cumming hard against his stomach and chest. 

Mephisto snarled, arching his back into Rin's claws, indulging in the sharp pain they brought as he reached his limit too. He shuddered, pressing himself deep inside as he finished. 

Rin panted as he slowly came down, feeling the warmth of Mephisto's cum drip from him as the elder pulled out, distinct from the heat of the water spraying over them. His fingers lifted from Mephisto's back, tangling his claws in his hair and brushing through the tangles slowly. 

Their lips met in a tender and slow embrace, Mephisto setting Rin down gently, pressing their foreheads together. "We should get cleaned up before we go." He murmured, Rin nodded his agreement.

"One thing first though," Rin said, smiling as Mephisto pressed soft kisses to his cheeks. 

"And what's that?"

"I want to see your horns...well horn."

Mephisto tilted his head a bit, "Why?"

"I just want to see them, isn’t that enough of a reason?" Rin murmured, watching as Mephisto nodded and slowly let them out.

His eyes widened at the sight of the shattered horn, the deep cracks in the bone filling his eyes with sadness, "I'm so sorry." He whispered, fingers brushing gently against it.

"I'll be alright, they grow back." He reassured, taking Rin's hand and pressing a kiss to his palm. 

"It’s a shame, I'd never seen them before and the first thing I do is break one. They're very pretty."

"So are yours." 

Rin smiled, flushing a bit at the complement as he cleaned up, "They're not even fully grown yet."

"One doesn’t have to see the future to know they'll be lovely." Mephisto hummed, washing up as well despite how tempted he was to reach out and pull Rin's tail and initiate another round.

They shouldn’t dawdle any longer though, some things needed to be known. He had to rip off the bandaid at some point. He couldn’t be with Rin, not if he was mortal and how could they ever be sure if he was or not. They could wait forever and a year for him to die and what kind of life would that be? 

He stepped out of the shower, turning the water off as he slid the glass door open. He snapped as Rin stepped out behind him, drying and clothing them in an instant.

"The old exorcist uniform?" Rin asked, tugging at his high collar, "Is this about my birth?"

"In a sense, but not particularly." Mephisto said, looking at himself in the mirror. He’d always liked how the old exorcist uniform looked on him. He pulled a key out of his side pocket and walked to the bathroom door, pushing it into the lock and turning it. "Ready?" Rin nodded and he turned the doorknob, pushing it open to a windy tundra. 

"Could we stay in the warm shower?" 

"Afraid not." Mephisto gestured through the door with a flourish, "After you."

Rin blinked away sunlight as he stepped through, wind whipping his hair around him as the snow beneath his feet glared brightly. Mephisto stepped through and closed the door behind him, sealing them away in the wasteland. They stood on a high, rocky cliff overlooking a vast valley, in its center a massive device Rin had never seen before, its machinery churning out a constant song. 

"Lucifer's artificial Gehenna gate." Mephisto said over the wind, coming to stand beside Rin as they both looked down, "You are currently just shy of your second birthday and this is Shiro and I’s first encounter with my brother's machine."

"Shiro and yours?" Rin didn’t like the sound of that, their hidden relationship still a fresh sore on his mind. 

"We used to go on many missions together, he was the Paladin after all and the Gehenna gate required both of our attentions. We came to seek information about how to stop it permanently and postpone its progress as much as we could while we were here, but we got more than we bargained for."

Rin nodded as he listened, squinting his eyes against the glare as he saw two small figures trekking through the snow.

Shiro huffed as he looked through his binoculars, taking a drag off his cigarette as he handed it to Mephisto who didn’t need them but looked through them anyway. "More security than we thought." Shiro said, as he opened the front of his jacket to make sure he had enough rounds for his shotgun. "Couldn’t they have picked a warmer location?"

"Mm, it would seem so. The question is, is our intel flawed, or our spy?" Mephisto wondered aloud, wishing the youngest shima clan son would hurry up and grow so he could have a more reliable puppet. Only a few more years, he told himself. "The cold keeps people out."

"Wouldn’t think it with all the guards. What's the plan."

"It would be just running in and killing everyone but I'd prefer if Lucifer didn’t know about this particular escapade, at least not until we’ve escaped, so we'll have to be delicate mind you."

Shiro rolled his eyes at Mephisto's accusatory tone. "Yeah yeah I’ve never been the most subtle, big news." 

"Oh so you finally admit your rash nature?"

"The plan, Mephisto."

The time king sighed dramatically, "You're no fun." He grumbled, flicking his hand and forming a model Illuminati base in the snow. "We're here." He said, pointing to the western edge of his model where two little snowmen popped up, one with a distinctive curl on its head. "Amaimon was kind enough to send some earth demons in earlier to excavate a tunnel not far from us, it leads to the base's sewer system. We should manage to go relatively undetected if we make our way through it." 

"You're gonna hike through mud and shit?"

"Oh absolutely not." Mephisto's nose wrinkled at the thought before he snapped his fingers and shapeshifted into his dog form, outfitted in a little doggy jacket and booties, "You will be carrying me."

"Oh my god," Shiro pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger, but he knew there was no point in arguing with the time king. He'd known him too long to make that mistake. "You're a brat." Mephisto pawed at his leg expectantly, not caring one bit that Shiro had called him a brat, putting on his best puppy eyes until Shiro leaned down and scooped him into his arms. "You know I can’t exactly shoot if I’m stuck carrying your bony ass."

Mephisto scrambled up his chest and shoulder, nosing open the hood at the back of his jacked and settling in, "There your hands are free, now can we go?"

"Why don't we just teleport in this is silly."

"Didn't you read the debriefing packet Lucifer himself set the barrier here, if I tried to teleport in my host would get torn to pieces."

"That would just be the saddest thing ever," Shiro huffed, kicking down the snow model as he began to walk, "Cover our tracks."

"Already planned on it." Mephisto used his powers to sweep away Shiro's footsteps and their scent. The hike to the tunnel wasn’t long, but the bitter cold made it feel as if they’d been walking for ages. "We'd teleport there but using my magic too much would leave evidence of my aspect." Mephisto hummed as he placed his front paws and head on Shiro's shoulder, watching as his cheeks reddened and the harsh wind made tears spring up in his eyes. 

"Next mission I take is in Hawaii." Shiro grumbled as he looked down into the tunnel, kneeling down and steadily lowering himself into the hole. He squeezed himself downwards, handing Mephisto a flashlight as the light above them dimmed. 

"What am I supposed to do with this, I don't have hands." 

"My hands are lowering us into this shit hole, use your mouth."

"That’s disgusting," Mephisto complained, even as he took the bottom of the flashlight in his mouth and clicked it on with his teeth, poking his head out of Shiro’s hood. He lit the path below them as Shiro shimmied through the tunnel. 

"Look good with your mouth full." He laughed as his feet touched a rusted grate.

"Yho chantt ewen sheee mme." Mephisto growled around the flashlight, drawing a bright laugh from the Paladin.

"Yeah but I can make you talk like an idiot." Mephisto smacked Shiro over the head with the flashlight in retaliation, but it had been worth it. He gripped the rock wall tight as he lifted his legs, kicking down hard on the grate until it gave way under him. "Hold tight." He warned as he dropped down into the sewer water. 

"Could you not splash so much?" Mephisto grumbled as Shiro took the flashlight back, hiding deep inside Shiro's hood to block out the smell.

"I’ll splash as much as I want considering you’re making me slog through this." Shiro said as he looked around their immediate surroundings carefully before moving forward. "How long do we have to stay down here?"

"Mile and a half."

Shiro nodded, it wasn’t the worst trek he’d ever had to make, even with the sewer water. "Hey you think Lucifer's shit is down here?"

"He's not here, he wouldn’t soil his hands with the dirty work of building the gate."

"Shame, I was hoping to make a detour." 

"No detours, we're to break into the lab, steal information and damage the machine as much as possible. Oh and, let’s try not to make a mess, Mr. Itchy trigger finger."

Shiro rolled his eyes, stopping as they hit a dead end, looking up and finding a latch for a ladder, letting it down, "Where does this lead anyway?" 

"The base's underground tunnels, there will be security cameras there, so do be careful."

"Aw so sweet, you care about me." Shiro laughed as he climbed the ladder and found the manhole cover, pushing it open slowly to peek out into the hall. "Looks clear." He crawled up into the corridor, keeping an eye out as he did. "Sense anyone?"

"There’s two halls one leading left and one leading right at the end of this one, on the left, eighty feet down are two agents."

"Senses that good?" Shiro whispered, putting the flash light away and pressing himself to the left wall, creeping along it. A small puddle of water dripped from the ceiling, allowing him to peer down the hall a ways and sure enough two guards were making their way down the tunnel. "Switching to stun bullets." He aimed around the corner, taking out the first guard swiftly, but the second was quick to duck, avoiding one of the bullets. Before Shiro could hit him the alarm went off, the guard crumpling to the ground soon after as Shiro got him. 

"Excellent work, Paladin." Mephisto growled as Shiro sprinted down the hall, taking the stairs out of the tunnel and to the upper levels two by two.

"Shut up and give me proper directions." He hissed, taking down a few of the guards as they came down the stairs. 

"Two more stories, fifty feet to the left then a right turn, twenty feet down third door on your right. You'll past through the entryway, turn left at the stairs you find, we'll be at the lab right outside the gate." Mephisto instructed as Shiro reached the last landing, "Oh and five guards on your right, pressed to the wall, one has two familiars." 

"Tell the demons to fuck off, I’ll get the guards." He kicked down the door, sending the guards scattering, shots ringing out, They're trying to kill me, why can’t I kill them?" He yelled over the gun fire as Mephisto growled at the large fire salamanders that barreled at them, telling them with a flex of strength to as, Shiro put it, 'Fuck off.'. 

One of the salamanders skidded to a halt, eyes wide, but one salamander only snarled louder, bounding at them without hesitation. "Shiro on your left!" Mephisto barked, but it was too late, the salamander pounced on him, grabbing the little doggy jacket he wore. Throwing him to the ground, he shapeshifted back as he fell, the salamander still advancing. He caught it in his claws and shredded it to bits.

One of the guards spoke into her earpiece and a split second later a different alarm blared through the halls, washing the area in flashing lights. "Shiro that’s got to be for me." Mephisto called as he finished off the second salamander.

Shiro ran past him, "Let’s work fast then!"

Mephisto nodded and ran behind him, following him to the lab. "Pack all the files on the table and in the shelves you can fit into your pack, I'll damage the gate"

"I’ll damage the gate, you grab the files and hide them in your dimension portal whatever." Shiro said, looking the table over for a second before staring at the Gehenna gate beyond the glass that separated it from them as Mephisto sealed the door.

"I’ll do that later, but you don’t want to come anywhere near that gate. It'll scramble your brains in an instant." He walked back past Shiro and used his magic to break the locks, after all there was no point left in pretending he hadn’t been there. He swung the door open and Shiro felt his knees go weak.

Even just a little exposure from the space Mephisto had opened made him dizzy, a headache forming between his eyes. "Holy fuck." He mumbled, vision swimming until Mephisto closed the door behind him, watching for a split second as Mephisto began to lay down symbols around the gate. 

Mephisto spoke lowly in an inhuman language, the symbols he etched into the ground glowing brightly. Shivers ran up his spine as home called to him. The feeling of Gehenna so close to him after all these years almost too intoxicating. He wanted to sink into it, to rest after his long time spent in Assiah. Wouldn’t it be nice to shed his host body, to rid himself of the pain it carried, and sleep until this world fell away to nothing, until the star that gave it life died and earth became nothing but rubble floating through space?

He stumbled back, shaking his head to rid himself of the temptations. He couldn’t rest, it wasn’t worth giving up Assiah, though he could understand how Lucifer ached for it. 

His power gathering around him he worked to seal the gate, pushing it back, forcing it to close until the pressure it exerted was too much. He panted, he may have been one of the Baal, but the whole of Gehenna was a hard thing to stop. His seal formed he aimed his power at the machine working to open Hell, short circuiting the mechanisms. 

He joined Shiro in the room, finding the Paladin waiting for him. "Finished?" Shiro asked, gun at the ready. Mephisto nodded, "We've got a crowd waiting for us."

Mephisto's ears perked, searching out the hall behind them. "Understatement of the year." 

"How many?"

"Hundred...or more, that’s just guard’s, there’s demons too and who knows how many waiting in the wings to be summoned."

Shiro unloaded his gun and took out new bullets, "I’m switching to kill, you saw how that one salamander wouldn’t back off even when you told it too, they are not going to stop attacking when their tamers pass out. We've got to cut their ties to earth completely."

Mephisto nodded, flexing his claws, "Been a while since I’ve had proper fun."

"Oh? I thought you were a germaphobe."

"I’m still a demon Shiro." Mephisto reminded, blowing open the lab door and letting the guards and demons pour in, "Let’s put on a show~"

The next few minutes were a blur of blood, gore, and surprisingly laughs. Shiro watched as Mephisto tore a war path through the guards and demons laughing as he did, a smile of his own stretching across his face as he backed the demon up. They had never gotten to fight together, but it was exhilarating. The precision, speed, and grace with which Mephisto danced through their opponents was mesmerizing. Shiro couldn’t help but enjoy himself as adrenaline pumped through his veins and he ran alongside the demon, taking down anyone who dared to cross their paths. 

They burst out into the sunlight, escaping the inner facility and fighting their way through the courtyard. Mephisto tossed him one of the now dead guard’s gun as he ran out of bullets. They both turned to face new opponents and their backs met. Shiro glanced over his shoulder and met Mephisto's gaze for only a split second before he faced down his half of the guards.

Before long they were running again, bursting through the front gate. They ran and they ran and Shiro could have sworn his legs had never carried him forward so fast. The cold wind whipped through his hair and he tilted his face up to the sun, letting out a joyous laugh of his own before a shot rang out through the clear air. 

Mephisto looked up, taking down the sniper on the back of a flying demon in an instant, but even that had taken too long.

Shiro crumpled to the ground.

Rin watched as the alarm bells rang across the valley, a few minutes later two figures scrambled out into the snow, surrounded by guards. "Is that?"

"Us? Yes." Mephisto answered from beside him, "We had hoped for a cleaner escape, but the guards had different ideas."

Rin starred as Shiro and Mephisto killed left and right, no hesitation in their movements. He had known that Mephisto had killed before, he was a demon and he'd learned such things came with the territory not to mention the multiple deaths he was ultimately responsible for in his human experiments. Watching Shiro kill though, that was a bit different. He knew his father didn’t hold a lot of qualms with murdering, but he’d never seen him kill humans. He’d seen him kill demons, he'd even seen Shiro try to kill him when he was a baby, but something about watching him kill the guards turned his stomach.

Yes, they were the enemy, but they were still human. Would he have to kill people during this war? Would that be him out there in the snow one day, taking lives without a second thought? He hadn’t hesitated when trying to kill Mephisto or Amaimon. 

It frightened him.

Mephisto and Shiro escaped the compound and for a moment he thought they would just run away, but then a shadow rose over the snow. He pointed to it, "A demon!" He hadn’t meant to shout, but it was coming up on them fast and they hadn’t seemed to have noticed. Mephisto took his hand and lowered it from the sky, fingers threading through his as his breath caught in his throat, a shot ringing out across the valley.

Blood stained the snow beneath Shiro a bright red, the Paladin curling up into a fetal position on the ice, clawing at his throat. His mouth gaped open, blood staining his teeth and hands. 

Mephisto stopped in his tracks, eyes wide as he starred at the hole the bullet had torn through his throat. He rushed to crouch down beside Shiro, trying to use his powers to heal the wound but his magic couldn’t heal a mortal wound. He’d tried before. There was no healing what would only cause death, speeding up time around around the wound would only cause him to die faster and pausing time around him would only put off his death. This wasn’t something a hospital could fix, his jugular torn to shreds. Mephisto didn’t even know what condition his spine was in. 

With each passing second the snow grew redder and redder. Shiro managed to reach out, fingers tightening weakly around his wrist. Mephisto's fingers caressed the bullet hole and he found that he was shaking, anger rising up inside him. "Idiot! Idiot! You can’t die now! You're supposed to raise Rin, I've got plans that still need completed!" He growled, how could Shiro do this to him, after all his carefully laid plans how could he just die out of nowhere. He’d have to restart the timeline, throw away centuries of work, how dare he do this to him. 

He let loose a terrifying snarl, tempted to dig his claws into Shiro's neck and end his pathetic, clearly useless life faster so he could get on with starting over. "Bastard." He hissed, glaring down at Shiro's dimming eyes as an idea overtook him. He wasn’t about to restart, even he wasn’t patient enough for that. His magic may not have been strong enough, but his own healing would be. 

He leaned down pressed his forehead to Shiro's own, "You still there?" He asked quietly, feeling Shiro's fingers tighten in response on his wrist. "Let me possess you and you'll live. You're going to die and I can only fix it if I have control of your body." He pressed as the edges of Shiro's wavering conscious with his aspect, pushing to find a crack inside if Shiro was still stubborn enough not to let him in, but then Shiro’s defenses fell away all at once, his fingers squeezing his wrist one last time as a hacking cough fought to escape him.

Mephisto felt himself slip away, pouring like liquid from one container into another, the bright landscape fading to black. Then pain exploded across his senses. 

He gagged, blood pouring from his mouth, eyes shut tightly as he shuddered. He felt his own claws dig into his throat as a limp body slumped on top of him. He snapped his fingers shakily, sending his old host body to a pocket of space time he kept for preserving items. 

His body, Shiro's body, began to heal and as soon as he could gasp for air he stood up shakily, snapping them away from the compound as soon as he had the strength to run outside the barrier. 

He collapsed into the closest True Cross medic station, finding himself in the main Russian branch headquarters. "Sir. Mephisto Pheles, Head of the True Cross Japan Branch, Honorary Knight, possessing the body of Paladin Shiro Fujimoto. It was the only way to get him here in one piece he needs medical attention." The time king said quickly as weapons were aimed at him the instance he’d collapsed into the hospital. He dug Shiro's i.d from his pocket, flashing it as the staff put their weapons away. 

"Fenya Krovopuskov, upper second class, head of this medical facility," a woman reached a hand towards him and despite Shiro's injuries he reached out to shake her hand, letting her pull him up.

It was then that Mephisto felt it. Beyond the pain of Shiro's injuries there was nothing, nothing at all. He hid his reaction because he was in public, but had he been alone his eyes might have well have popped from Shiro's skull. This body wasn’t fighting his possession, it wasn’t rotting. There was no secret agony, no cells breaking down , no aching joints. 

Shiro was perfect. 

Years of hunting for the perfect host, of cloning and working till even he felt like he'd go off the deep end in frustration and here it was. His cloning had worked, he'd created the ideal host. 

And he had to let him go.

He was too important to his coming plans. He had to raise Rin and Yukio, and he was the Paladin, Mephisto couldn’t just possess him...kill him. The order gave him a lot of leeway, but murdering their Paladin and possessing his body wouldn’t be overlooked. 

"What's the extent of his injuries." 

"Bullet through the throat, I've mostly healed that, but he has a few other mission related injuries. A deep cut on his upper left arm, salamander bite on his stomach, left side for that as well."

"We'll worry mostly about the side effects of your possession then." She nodded, motioning for a gurney. "High level demon possession is nothing to scoff at, though I should thank you for saving the Paladin’s life." She conceded as as he sat down on the bed, bringing his older host body back into existence.

He let himself slip into it, blinking rapidly and gasping as he forced the lungs to breath again, that old familiar pain of possession flooding into him. 

Shiro broke into a fit of coughing as Mephisto stood, the medics rushing him off to take care of his remaining wounds and the lingering evidence of his possession. 

Mephisto looked down at his hands and flexed his fingers. This body was his, it had been for a while now. Its’ pain was understood, its’ movements memorized. He sighed softly, he’d just have to convince Shiro to give him his body when he died. The waiting was going to kill him. 

A few hours later Shiro had woken up and he went to join him in his hospital room, knocking on the door frame. "See you made a quick recovery."

Shiro tore his eyes from the window, "Yeah real quick, they said I must have extra demonic resistance something like that, my Russian is rusty."

"Do you remember anything?" 

"I do, though I'd prefer you close the door before we talked about it."

"Shiro if you're mad about me possessing you then you'd better let those feelings go. You would have died if I hadn’t done it."

"I’m glad you did it."

Mephisto paused as the softness in Shiro's voice, in the way he looked down at the sheets on the hospital bed, "Okay then, what is it you want to talk about?" He asked, stepping further into the room and closing the door behind him. 

"I didn’t have any damaged tissue from your possession...I know what that means." He said slowly, Mephisto taking a seat beside him in the standard uncomfortable hospital chair, "I’m your perfect host, aren’t I?"

Mephisto nodded, "You are."

"Promise you won’t laugh."

"Wait, what?" Confusion filled Mephisto as he looked over at Shiro who finally met his gaze. 

"I’m going to say something, promise not to laugh."

"Shiro I’d ask if you hit your head but I was in your head and it was fine other than your ringing ears." Mephisto said, unsure of what had overcome the human, "But fine, I won’t laugh." That was a lie. If Shiro said something stupid he would laugh all he wanted, Shiro was a fool to think otherwise. 

"It felt...it felt good." Shiro clenched his hands into fists, trying to remember what it had been like, "It felt really damn good."

Oh. Well, that could happen, he just hadn’t expected Shiro to admit to such a thing. "Well, if the host is alive they can feel a rush of power. You know that, power is the main way demons entice humans to letting them possess them." 

"Do it again." A hand shot out to grip his tightly, just as it had out in the snow. 

Mephisto's eyes widened and he moved to pull his hand away, but Shiro held him down despite knowing full well that the demon could break the hold at any time. "Absolutely not. You've got children to raise, your job as Paladin to do. I can’t just let you kill yourself, you're too useful."

"I don’t want to kill myself! I just want to, just for a little while. I want to feel strong again...I haven’t felt like I was really strong since before...well...since," Shiro admitted, his voice fading as he spoke. He pulled his hand from Mephisto's own and looked away from him again, recoiling into himself.

"Shiro no amount of borrowed strength is going to bring Yuri back, you know that." Mephisto answered, Shiro wasn’t the first human to think a demon could get him back something he’d lost. He certainly wouldn’t be the last. 

"I know...you're right I know, it’s crazy but I- what’s the harm in just a little bit, it doesn’t even hurt me and you, you get to feel what it's like to not be in pain."

"Well yes, b-“

The energy flooded back into Shiro, a bit of the color returning to his chest, "But nothing, Mephisto you've never felt that good! Come on tell me I'm wrong! Existing it’s never been like that has it?"

He was right and Mephisto knew it, the allure of shedding his pain creeping further into his mind. "I haven’t, but I'm not going to possess you on that argument alone Shiro."

"Why not, it can be just for a little while. You can go out, have fun and I can feel...I can feel like I can actually protect people." Shiro bargained, leaning closer to Mephisto in his excitement. "Come on, Samael, just for a little while. No harm done, no one has to know. " He reached out his hand and this time Mephisto took it, shaking it firmly.

Rin watched the conversation from the other room, his Mephisto making the wall a one way mirror and amplifying the voices. He turned to the demon, "So Shiro was your perfect host?"

"He was and we both became entranced by the power that entailed. We agreed to a possession sometime in the future and we found the opportunity a little after your birthday, right around the Western New Year." Mephisto said, snapping his fingers to take them to the next scene. 

Rin found himself in the middle of a huge crowd, people bustling around him haphazardly. He looked up, staring bright eyed into the flashing billboards above him. People cheered in front of performers on stage, everywhere he looked there was more to see. People eating, drinking, dancing, huddling together for warmth from the wind. There were camera crews and reporters and flashing lights from police cars sitting by barricades. 

His gaze finally settled on the large ball, covered in flashing lights. It shimmered above them, Mephisto's hand laying across his back as starred. "Would you like some food?" He asked over the noise of the crowd. 

"That'd be nice." Rin agreed, understanding from his previous time spent in the past that such a small act as getting some food from a vendor wouldn’t change things. At least not to a noticeable degree anyway. 

They picked a burrito truck, standing in line as Mephisto continued his explanations, "I re-possessed Shiro under the condition that I would grant him some control over his body. It's a bit like being two people wearing the same shirt, a little awkward, but workable." He paused to order their food, picking out a few hot sauce packets, "Shiro decided to show me a good time, I was surprised, but interested. He said that I’d never truly experienced living because I’d always lived in a dying body and that I should enjoy myself with a party. We teleported here, to New York for the New Years celebration for a bit of fun." 

He pointed across the crowd and Rin caught sight of Shiro. It was rare to see him in such casual clothes. He meandered around the crowd, arms ladened with food as he talked to himself 

"Stop eating dippin dots, I don’t like dippin dots." Shiro complained as Mephisto stuffed another spoonful into his mouth.

"Mm, Shiro the cold is so nice, I’ve never felt it like this it’s always muddled and the taste is so sharp." Mephisto mumbled, looking around with eyes that didn’t prick with pain or feel dry. 

"Let’s get some beer at least, wash out the taste."

"Oh goodness no, I'm enjoying myself and that means I’m not drinking horse piss."

Shiro scoffed, "So you know what horse piss tastes like?"

"No, but would you like too? I’ll find us a horse, I’ll make you do it." Mephisto threatened, pointing at a mounted police officer, "Look there's one now."

Shiro grabbed his other hand, pulling it down and dropping the food he’d been carrying, "I swear to God, stop pointing they'll think we are crazy!"

"My dippin dots, Shiro!" Mephisto gasped, smacking Shiro's hand back, "They already think we are crazy we’re talking to ourselves. It doesn’t matter, this is New York they've seen weirder."

Shiro sighed and took control of his legs, walking back to the ice cream cart, "We'll get your ice cream, but after I want some of those fried Oreo things, they smelled really good." 

Mephisto nodded, "And alcohol, not beer, but something."

"Never gotten wasted while possessed."

"First time for everything as they say~" He hummed, eating his ice cream and looking out for a place to get refreshments at. "These are my favorites, you know." 

"Favorites? Favorite what, ice cream?"

"No, no, I mean celebration. New Year’s parties are my favorite." The time king laughed, ordering a drink and taking a long sip, sighing at the burn the alcohol left at the back of his throat. It was nice to know that that sting came from something he enjoyed and chose rather than a vessel that fought him every moment of every day. "Celebrations of time always make me feel invigorated. Most often humans think of time as a bad thing, something that takes, but holidays like these remind them that it’s not all bad. Time brings changes and opportunities, forward movement. The real danger is in stagnation."

"Well, I’m glad we picked the right party then," Shiro said, feeling more happy about that than he'd expected he would. He wondered if Mephisto could feel what he was feeling, or hear his thoughts. "What's it like giving me this much control?"

"Very interesting, I’ve never done something like this before. It’s odd to feel your muscles move on their own." 

"It’s weird for me too, but nice, it feels like I could do anything."

"We very nearly could."

Shiro let the words sink into him, understanding now more than ever how powerful Mephisto was. With that understanding came a revelation. He had always suspected that Mephisto intended to harm humanity in some way, worried that he was tricking them all and would strike faster than a coiled snake when they least expected it. Yet, where he should have felt malice and malicious intent where his mind met the time king's own, he felt only curiosity. 

It was ravenous and selfish, untethered to empathy or sentimentality, but it wasn’t evil. He realized Samael was like a spoiled child who wanted and wanted and couldn’t care less about if he broke a toy so long as a new one was quickly delivered into his hands. He was greedy and self serving, but he didn’t feel necessarily immoral.

He didn’t even feel non-human, not at that level anyway. 

He felt somehow naive, as if he thought he could ask for the world and be handed it on a silver platter. As if consequences didn’t exist.

He didn’t care about death or the torture he put the clones in section thirteen through, not because he was evil, but because he could fully comprehend those atrocities on an emotional level. He didn’t have the vocabulary or capacity for it. Such things rolled off his back like water off a duck's wings. He looked forward and reached for more and more endlessly, devouring whatever came his way.

Shiro grew curious of that feeling, of that detachment from pain. Mephisto’s strength made him feel as if he could protect everyone he loved, but his emotions made him feel as if he didn't need to. There was no reason to be scared, or to care. There wasn't sadness or worry, there was only the desire to explore and learn, to see everything and go everywhere and with Mephisto he felt like he could. They could do anything and it didn’t matter what anyone thought or said.

He wanted to get lost in those feelings, wanted a balm to soothe all his pain. He sank into it, into the blissful, naive greed and...

Pain filled him, tore at him. In a flash it welled up, anger, fear, sadness, agony. Fresh and overflowing, a cup filled to the brim spilled over and washed him in dread. Horror tangled around his mind, he didn’t understand, why did it hurt so bad? He wanted to tear his heart from his chest, wanted to scream, he’d never felt despair so strong, not since Yuri had —

"Do not poke around in my mind, Shiro."

Mephisto's words were clipped and hard, dragging Shiro back to reality. He gasped as if he’d been yanked from an iced over lake, panting despite having done nothing physically.

"W-What was...Mephisto what was th-“

"My business, not yours.”

“But you don’t - you can’t, I thought-“ Pain filled him again, this time physical. He clenched his hand to his chest, his heart seizing tight. “F-Fuck Mephisto, stop!”

“Don’t speak of that ever again, do you understand me?”

Shiro nodded, gasping and coughing as Mephisto released his hold around his heart, allowing it to beat again. He took a stiff drink of some of the alcohol they had bought instead of yelling at the demon like he wanted to, fearful of Mephisto lashing out again if he did. 

He didn’t plan to die from pissing the time king off.

Luckily Mephisto's anger tapered of quickly enough once he made no moves to bring up the incident again and they were able to fall back into enjoying the celebration around them.

Still, Shiro couldn’t help but wonder even as they drank and danced the night away. 

Rin watched as Shiro seemed to argue with himself before walking in the direction of an ice cream vendor. Mephisto motioned for him to follow, biting into his own food. They moved behind Shiro like shadows, staying a good ways behind, but never losing sight.

Shiro drank and ate, seemingly having a good time until out of the blue he paused, looking around slowly as if he’d lost himself. Before Rin could ask what was happening Shiro gasped and clenched his chest in pain, eyes closing tightly. 

He looked like he was having a heart attack. Was he not really Mephisto’s perfect host? Worry spiked through him unexpectedly, watching the pained and twisted expression on his father’s face. Yet, it didn’t last long, Shiro straightening only a few moments later, looking as if nothing had happened.

His cheeks which had turned pale as a sheet flushed with new color. He took a drink and continued on his way, leaving Rin confused behind him. “What was that about, I thought your possession didn’t hurt him."

"My possession didn’t, but parts of me did...parts I had to chase him out of. Maybe I took it too far, hurting him. " Mephisto said, the genuine softness in his voice shocking Rin and clicking a few puzzle pieces into place.

"Those parts are why you don’t want us to be together..." It was technically a question, but the moment the words crossed his lips he knew he was right. 

Mephisto nodded, "I told you I wanted to tell you the real reason and those sides of me are why we're here."

"But what are they?" Rin stopped following behind Shiro, taking Mephisto's hand in his own, "Those parts you're hiding, I already know about section 13, all the clones and the death. I understand you're a demon, I’ve accepted those parts of you what could be worse than that?"

Mephisto looked away, slowly pulling his hand from Rin’s own, "We'll get there soon enough, but not yet. For now we keep watching."

Rin turned away from him reluctantly, wanting to have his answers now, but knowing from experience that Mephisto never gave full answers. Instead he’d have to watch the past unfold and piece the information together, just as he had when he'd been shown his birth.

They continued observing for a long while, Rin finding himself wanting to enjoy the party around him and being unable to. His mind was too full of questions. What could be so terrible that Mephisto thought it could tear them apart? Did Amaimon know about it? He had to, he'd been with Mephisto for a long time so surely he would know. It had to be a demon thing, after all him being human was a major factor in Mephisto not wanting to be with him. Or so he’d been told.

He tried to shake the thoughts off and watch Shiro, but out of nowhere he was gone. Rin turned around, scanning the crowd for them, wondering why Mephisto hadn’t pointed them in the right direction to continue following. He was about to ask where they were going next when a woman screamed and turning towards the noise he saw Shiro stumbling into her only to warp out of existence.

He teleported here and there, apparently not caring too much in someone saw him, bumping into people and things. 

"What’s going on?" Rin asked as Shiro held one of his hands in a vice like grip, trying and failing to keep it from snapping and sending him crashing into a balloon vendor, bright colors filling the air as several spun slowly upwards after he’d teleported into them. 

"When I’m drunk I tend to have difficulty teleporting. Jumping from one location to the next generally requires a good amount of focus, focus I lack after as many drinks as I've had tonight. But, that doesn’t really matter, what matters is where Shiro and I finally ended up." Mephisto explained, lifting his hand to snap his fingers, teleporting them to a dark mountain, just behind the tree line before a cliff side clearing. 

Shiro snapped into existence, stumbling a bit before pausing and taking in the landscape. He was at the edge of a cliff and if Mephisto had teleported them a little to the left they would have tumbled off the ridge and into the deep forest hundreds of feet below.

It was cold, but not terribly so considering their elevation, Shiro’s breath tumbling into the air in swirling smoke patterns. The ground beneath his feet was white rock pebbles interspersed with long grass and sparse, small pine trees. He imagined that during the day the point allowed for a sweeping view of the mountains around them, yet now it was the sky that was really worth taking in.

Above them the night was alive with stars, no moon in sight to muddle their light. The Milky Way band arched over his head, leaving him feeling incredibly small despite Mephisto’s power coursing through him. “We’re not back in Japan” he murmured, not even really caring that they hadn’t gone home like they’d agreed to, not with a view like this.

“How would you know? We’re outside.” Mephisto argued, laughing just a bit before spinning around in Shiro’s body until the stars blurred to streaks in the dark. 

“If you don’t stop I’ll barf.” Shiro warned before they stumbled to the ground, sitting down heavily. “And I do know, I know this isn’t Japan because the constellations are all wrong for this time of year.”

“I didn’t take you for an astronomer.”

“I’m a field agent!”

“Hardy, anymore.” Mephisto hummed, making Shiro groan in complaint before they both settled on Shiro’s elbows, taking in the sky again.

Samael wished he could see them better where he lived. A mansion in the city was nice, but he missed out on these simpler pleasures. He wanted to look up and open himself up to the sky, melt back into the night which had formed him. Having a body was exciting, it was a flurry of constant sensation, but space, space had been different. When he was just a concept his arms had no boundaries, he hadn't even had arms. He was everything and nothing, now, then, and forever. The human form was angles and confines and part of him longed deep down to be the water of the universe again, spreading out out out with no containers or thoughts or pains. Just endless abyss, endless destruction and creation where time was not linear in any sense, but cyclical and ever moving.

“So all that, it’s you?" Shiro asked, quiet and slow, shocking Samael from his thoughts.

He took his time with his answer, feeling Shiro’s fingers twist around the sparse grass beneath them without his will, interested for just a moment in feeling something he hadn’t intended to do, "In a way, yes. That’s me."

"But it's so huge, it's everything."

"You're big too, I’m like that."

Samael got the sense that Shiro would have turned to him had they not been sharing a body, "What do you mean? I’m small, look at it all and here I am just someone on a rock."

"You hold many worlds inside of you, Shiro. Your body is filled with living creatures, bugs, bacteria, viruses. To you the universe is huge, but to them you are huge and you’re all they’ve ever known. Entire generations will live and die in you and you'll have no idea. They are their own bodies, their own desires. They function and move, they multiply and evolve all inside you. Even your own cells are not fully your own, they are populated by beings beyond you and they replace your entire body every few years, making a new universe from scratch. That’s what I am."

Shiro mulled the words over, trying to picture the whole of the universe as one large body, in which there were a multitude of inner workings, among them earth and himself. "Is it weird being small, when you used to be so big?"

"There wasn’t a word for big back then, or even thoughts. Not at the level you understand them." Samael said, reaching up and spreading Shiro's, their, fingers wide as if he could capture that time before time, that existence beyond knowing. "But yes...sometimes it's odd. Sometimes it’s like rolling out of bed on the wrong side, or wearing your shoes on the wrong feet. It’s you...it’s you but it’s different. It’s not that it isn’t you, or that you’ve changed, but you're not correctly aligned. You're left humming just a bit off tune."

Fingers brushed against his lips, making Samael pause as they drug themselves slowly over the skin before resting there. "Shiro —”

"I told you I'd make sure you had a good time tonight, in my body, without the pain, but...there’s one thing you haven’t experienced like this yet." Shiro whispered, breath curling into the night sky as Samael watched, stunned as he felt the fingers leave his lips and drag slowly down his neck to reach his chest, pushing a button through its hole. "I think you, I mean we, should."

Samael’s hand lowered from the sky, moving to mirror Shiro's movements and touch their lips, but he paused before he could still unsure. He’d never done anything like this. In his hundreds of years with a human form he’d never felt his hands take a mind of their own and slid down, down, down. 

He gasped as he felt Shiro slip their fingers beneath his belt and grip himself in a tease of a touch, a promise for more, for what came next before he moved their hand back up and continued to unbutton his shirt until it fell open. 

"Shiro this i-“

"Won’t it feel better this way? Without the rot." He was right, Samael knew it and Shiro could feel his knowledge, his understanding and used it as permission to push forward, undoing his belt and exposing them to the still, cold air.

Samael unwrapped his tail and wound it around Shiro's arm stopping it momentarily, "You don’t have to if you're just do this to make sure I find out what it feels like." He said, for once not just running with his lust, and that surprised even him. It was just so peculiar to share a body this thoroughly, to have everything be theirs and if it was going to be then he wanted them to both feel the same way. He wanted to be in sync, to move together and maybe it was selfish but if he could sense any apprehension in Shiro's mind then the sensations would be laced with doubt, something that would muddle the crystal clear clarity he craved. 

"You know it’s not that, Samael. You've known all evening."

A blush stained his cheeks, something he couldn’t imagine on Shiro's face. He had indeed sensed Shiro's sexual curiosity towards him the whole evening. He’d sensed it in fleeting murmurs when he’d possessed him before too, and seen it glimmer in his eyes for years now. He’d just never intended to bring it up beyond teasing. He was a fascination Shiro held, a question he occasionally dwelled on of what it might be like to sleep with a demon. Plenty of humans had such curiosities, but few ever acted upon them. 

So Shiro had been curious as to what sex with him might be like, had even desired it, that didn’t actually mean anything.

At least, he hadn’t thought it did.

Yet, there Shiro was, coaxing them to hardness, making Samael’s teeth grit as he felt the sensations of arousal at a level he’d never encountered. He’d felt better things, plenty of sexual positions felt better than a handjob, but he’d never felt it quite like this. It’d never been this sharp. The lack of distractions let the warmth of lust wash fully over him, narrowing his focus to a pinpoint. It didn’t take long for him to cant their hips upward, seeking more as his fingers dug into the sandy dirt beside them. 

"Feel good?" Shiro teased softly, running his thumb over their slit, smearing precum across the head.

Samael growled, biting down on their bottom lip, letting the taste of blood fill their mouth and groaning at the heavy iron flavor. He gave no definitive answer but he felt Shiro's smirk in the whole of their body as he sped up.

"Give me more control." Shiro breathed, voice interlaced with Samael’s soft pants and the time king gave more willingly than he ever had, letting go of his control over Shiro's other arm and for once becoming a passenger in a body completely. 

He was always taking, consuming forcefully, but now he let Shiro give. He received every sensation, unplanned by him but imparted to every nerve ending.

Shiro thought he was small, but these feelings were far from minuscule and for a short time, their minds filling one body, they were all Samael could feel. They were a whole, inexplicable world. 

Their eyes closed and their hand moved faster. The damp that had begun to gather on the grass pressed against their clothes, the water cool and calming. The first twinges of finish coiled in their gut, a soft moan passing between them as they reach out to stroke fingers through soft tail fur.

The sensation sent electricity spilling up their spine, settling as a shiver over their body. Their toes curled as the promise of orgasm grew, claws brushing their skin, teeth elongating in their mouth, head tilting backwards.

Their eyebrows knit together, biting their lip as their hips thrust in time with their hand which had transitioned from firm, full strokes, to quick, desperate jerks. The tension inside them wound tighter as they chased their end, aching for it and crying out as the crest came into view before tumbling into the pleasure.

They moaned, warmth splashing onto their stomach and spreading across their fingers, shivering and gasping. They rode out their orgasm, stroking themselves through it until with a few last jerks they sighed, sinking boneless across the ground. 

Samael's eyes opened slowly, heart pounding in their ears, stars as bright as ever above them. He didn’t know what to say, Shiro had rendered him speechless, something he was certain the exorcist took immense pride in. As it were he lifted a hand, brushing their fingers against their lips in an echo of the improvised kiss Shiro had began with. The one he had hesitated with before.

They lay in silence for a long time, fatigue settling in, a content glow about them. Shiro closed their eyes, washing Samael's world in darkness again before finally speaking, "How are we going to get home?" He asked, running a hand through their hair. 

Samael frowned, he was still too drunk to teleport reliably. "I’d have to stop possessing you."

"We can do this again sometime." 

What did this mean? The possession? The sex? Both at the same time? It had certainly been nice. Samael couldn’t lie, he wanted that experience again.

He pulled away from Shiro, bringing his normal host body into existence and letting his being fill it. His eyes fluttered open and he felt empty. "That would be nice." He said, extending a hand out to Shiro to tug him up and as he did Shiro pulled him into a kiss, deep and slow. Unhurriedly they embraced, Shiro's fingers carding through Samael's hair as the time king’s hand clenched in the still open fabric of Shiro's shirt. 

"I had fun tonight." Shiro finally said as they moved away from one another, Samael using his magic to right all of Shiro's clothes. 

He’d heard those words from many humans, had smoothed down rumbled fabric and tucked sweaty hairs behind ears hundreds of times before, but it’d hadn’t felt like this is a long time. He could count on one finger the times those words has actually made him smile as they did now. "Me too."

Shiro took one last glance up at the sky then said, "Let’s go home." 

Samael nodded and reality shifted around them in a whirlwind of color, their now separate bodies reappearing in Samael's bedroom, sinking into his mattress.

A head popped up from the covers, sleepy, reptilian eyes peering at them momentarily before closing as a purr rose in his chest. Amaimon scooted over to Samael, wrapping his arms around his neck and pulling him into a demanding, yet unhurried kiss.

Samael sank contentedly into it, letting Amaimon's familiar scent and taste wash over him, fingers brushing Amaimon's ear as he held the embrace. 

Shiro blanched, eye’s widening as all the blood attempted to drain from his body. The earth king was just, just there in front of him. One of the Baal. One of the most powerful demons in existence was just living in Samael’s house and he'd had no idea. They were supposed to be laying low after the supposed deaths of Rin and Yukio and Mephisto just had Amaimon hanging around.

Keeping other members of the Baal in the city was the exact definition of not laying low. What if someone found out, what if the order found out, they'd send investigators. Investigators which could question him because he was the Paladin and how could he have not known Amaimon was within the city. They’d poke around and find Rin and Yukio all because Mephisto was getting some, some lizard tail?!

And that was another thing, he had just had sex with Samael! Samael who was obviously with Amaimon in some sort of capacity. He might as well have signed his own execution order. 

Amaimon nosed against Samael's neck, the time king tilting his head upwards to give him better access. He ran his tongue over the pulse there, a purr forming in Samael's chest to echo Amaimon’s own as the earth king spoke in a deep, ancient language Shiro could couldn’t hope to understand, the sound of it making a headache burn to life in between his eyes. 

Samael answered him, murmuring lowly in a voice that sounded like scales sliding over sharp rocks.

The sounds sends fear shuddering up Shiro's spine even though their movements were soft, even caring.

Samael's forehead met Amaimon’s own in a nuzzle, an echo of horns unexposed, but the message was there. He snapped his clothes away, settling into a comfortable robe and doing the same for Shiro, pulling him down against the both of them.

Shiro was hesitant, resisting a bit as he was pulled awkwardly into their laps, moved to press between them. He held his arms close to his body, back stiff. Warm breath brushed against the back of his neck as Amaimon smelled him. Smelled him! His hair stood on end. 

What would Amaimon do if he found out what had happened. He’d probably gut him like a fish, damn Samael for getting him into this. 

"He smells like you."

Shiro swallowed thickly. Why hadn’t that clown bastard warned him. 

"This is the one I was telling you about, my perfect host."

"He’d look good on you."

Samael smiled widely, catching Shiro's chin in his hand, tilting his face upwards. "He does, we’re quite dashing and we had a lot of fun tonight, you should join next time, Amaimon."

What was that bastard doing!?

"Mm, what'd you do?" Amaimon ask, voice bored even as his claws toyed with the fabric around Shiro's arms as if debating tugging his hands above his head or perhaps ripping his wrists off.

"Ate, drank, danced, and then he surprised me." 

He hated how they spoke as if he wasn’t there, leaving him to wonder what would happen next, what Amaimon might do. He wanted to shift from their arms, but he didn’t want to seem suspicious if Samael lied about their night.

"He initiated sex, something I’ve never had a host do. It was wonderful."

Before Shiro could bolt to avoid Amaimon's wrath the earth king laughed, "It's much better with the right host, isn’t it?"

Samael nodded, ignoring the confused look on Shiro's face, "I was jealous of you before, but now I don’t know if I’ll be able to stand it."

A slim green tail wrapped possessively around Shiro's wrist, "Well then just repossess him and we'll play." Amaimon purred, fingers spreading out over Shiro's chest and dipping under the edge of his robe.

Samael captured Amaimon’s lips in another kiss, shaking his head as they separated, "Perhaps later, for now I’m sure Shiro needs his rest."

"I think he needs more than that, he looks as if his brains fell out are you sure you didn’t break him?"

"He’s freaking out because he thinks you're going to kill him because we slept together."

Shiro growled, yanking himself away fully. “You knew I was worried and you were fucking with me!” When he thought about it, it wasn’t surprising at all, but it still pissed him off.

Amaimon smiled, teeth a touch too sharp, "He’s got those human hangups." He said it as if Shiro's fear was cute. 

Shiro opened his mouth to tell them off for toying with his emotions and fears like they had, but Samael placed a finger against his lips, shushing him before he could. "Very few demons care about monogamy, Shiro. I've had plenty of humans while we've been together and so has he," He explained, though Shiro couldn’t bring himself to believe Amaimon had humans lining up to fuck him. He almost grumbled as much. "Amaimon and I have claimed one another, we're mates, but it’s not sex that tells us that. Demons don’t place as much meaning on it as humans do. It’s not as if you're about to change our bond."

Amaimon nodded along, letting Samael do all the talking as he settled back into the sheets with a stretch, content to close his eyes and nuzzle against the time king’s body. 

Samael reached out for Shiro and tugged him back down with him as he joined Amaimon in laying down, sandwiching himself between the two of them. "It’s been a long night, I can fill you in more tomorrow, for now, rest."

"Is he smart enough to be filled in?" Amaimon teased, tail curling around Samael's own.

Shiro glowered at Amaimon over the expanse of Samael's chest between them, but then Samael's hand was in his hair and he suddenly felt so tired. His eyelids grew heavy and in the back of his mind he knew Samael was using his magic on him, but he couldn’t find the strength to fight it. His fingers traced his forehead, drawing him closer and closer to his dreams, his eyes closing as it felt like a warm blanket was being pulled over his mind.

He could just worry about it tomorrow. It was no big deal really.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some shiro and meph sexy times hell yeah  
> The next chapter will also take place in the past as Rin continues to look for Mephisto’s answers
> 
> Kudos and Comments are super appreciated and I’ll try to be better about responding I just get all like qlaowks after I get them so I wait to calm down and by the time I have I’m like is it too awkward to answer now it’s been a few days. Sorry about that.


	5. A bird in the hand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amaimon comes to some shocking realizations, Shiro gets the pounding of his life, and Mephisto continues to be the biggest idiot on the face of both Assiah and Gehenna.

Amaimon mulled about the garden, moving through the leaves languidly, watching as they perked and grew towards him as he passed. On one arm he held a mostly flat wicker basket with rounded edges and in his hand he held a pair of cutting shears. Carefully he worked his way through the maze of bushes, taking the blooms which interested him the most.

Samael's room needed something other than anime pillows, a bit of foliage would be a nice touch and there was no need now to worry about him complaining about his so called allergies. 

His tail swished and curled in lazy patterns behind him, flicking over the dew covered leaves in a way that made him purr with contentment. 

Outside was nice. The garden, his garden, was alive and teeming in the eternal spring he had drenched it in. Outside it may have been winter, but in the center of the Faust mansion the flowers bloomed and reached toward the sun.

Around his neck the necklace Samael had given him thrummed lowly with a part of his aspect, soothing his instinctual urge to seek out his missing claim. Part of him wished he had something of Rin’s. The bed had been especially empty the night before, Amaimon pressing himself into the sheets, searching for where their shared scents were the strongest and settling there.

“Amaimon!” His head lifted from the flower he was looking at, ears perking towards the sound of his name, watching as Sheimi half jogged, half walked over. She smiled at him. “I brought these for you!” In her hand she held a small gift wrapped box, the bow a bright gold foil.

He took it carefully, claws tugging at the bow instead of simply shredding the paper open, inside was a little brown paper box with four small plants inside. Each plant was in its own starter dirt cup, light green stems poking out of the soil. They all had two or three spiked leaves, bright red around the edges. 

“Roses!” She beamed, “A cross of two types I have in my garden. These are the first seedlings, so I wanted to share. Not sharing what you grow will spoil a garden, you know.”

He did not know. It didn’t matter though, he took them all the same, feeling a smile of his own break through his typically placid expression. "Thank you." He said, the words rare on his lips and meaningful. 

He appreciated Sheimi, perhaps more than he’d ever admit. There were parts of Rin that he didn’t understand, but she did and she soothed him when he and Samael couldn’t find the emotions.

Yukio joining the Illuminati, even to destroy their base, becoming a full demon, seeing the past, it had all taken a toll on Rin Amaimon couldn’t connect to. Over the past few months he had learned something very important about humans. Sympathy and empathy were two vastly different things. He could tell Rin that he was okay, could run his fingers through his hair and remind him that Yukio was home, but it wasn’t the same as Sheimi's eyes when she reached her hand across a kitchen countertop and told Rin she had been scared too. 

"I think they'll look lovely with all the others." She said, looking at the vast garden around her as if she’d never seen it before when in fact she and Rin had taken to doing homework on the grass. 

“They will.”

She looked back at him, hands folding in front of her contentedly as Amaimon moved to place the roses on a nearby bench before returning to his work picking flowers, "Where is Rin anyway? I brought him some spices I think he’d like."

"Mephisto took him to the past again." His scissors tightened around a stem, the sharp sound as he cut it filling the air, "Who knows when they'll get back."

"Oh." Sheimi sat on the bench, frowning for a second, something Amaimon didn’t see her do much of. "Is this about his birth? I remember how upset he was last time he-” she bit her lip, cutting her sentence short, but Amaimon understood all the same. Rin had been a wreck when he’d returned from the past, he’d tried to hide it but deep down the wounds from his human father's death had reopened along with the knowledge of how his mother died and the guilt he bore knowing he’d murdered, something Amaimon didn’t grasp well. 

Rin had killed out of defense, he’d been in danger and cornered and besides, so what if a few humans died? Humans died all the time. Amaimon knew that with each passing second hundreds of humans died and were born. That was how life worked. Mortal creatures existed momentarily, spring became winter, plants grew, produced offspring, then wilted away. Why did Rin deny his place in nature? Why didn’t he understand he was no different from an animal that hunted, or a tree that took in the sun. Beings did things to survive, he had killed to continue existing, billions of other living creatures would have done the same. 

"It’s not." He said, fingers lingering on the flower he’d just placed in his basket. "But he'll be upset anyway." He could guarantee that. 

Sheimi didn’t press and maybe that’s why he continued, the words coming from him slowly as the silence stretched on, hands reaching forward as if he meant to cut another flower, but the action never came. "Rin wants us to claim him, but Samael won’t do it."

Sheimi let the silence continue after he finished, leaning forward and waiting for him to say more, only prompting him as Amaimon looked down at his hands, flexing his fingers, "Claim?"

"The binding of our aspects. We don’t have souls, we have hearts, powers, aspects and claiming binds a demon to another being they trust." He said, voice lowering a bit as he spoke, looking down at the necklace Samael had given him. "If you die and you have claimed someone, your power goes to them...it’s the closest thing we have to human weddings," That was an understatement. Claims were far more than a wedding could ever hope to be, the mixing of aspects, of existence, couldn’t be captured in human language. To become part of someone, and have them become part of you, completely, utterly, it transcended mortal ideas of connection. 

"Rin wants to marry the two of you, and Sir. Pheles said no?" 

Amaimon nodded, that was close enough. 

"What did you say?"

Amaimon’s eyes widened, hand lifting to curl possessively around his necklace, around his mate's aspect, their tie. "What do you mean?"

"Do you want to marry Rin?"

He...he wasn’t sure what he wanted. He liked Rin, he enjoyed him. He was fun to fight with, fun to be around. He liked the food Rin made, and how excited he almost always was. There were parts of him he didn’t understand, but overall Rin was entertaining and if he could he’d, "He'd be nice to have..." he said, quietly. "But Samael and I are together and I can’t make that decision alone." 

No, he wanted the both of them, and Rin wanted them too. It wouldn’t work if Mephisto didn’t want Rin back and to claim Rin on his own would drive a wedge between them. Amaimon was sure he didn’t want that. 

"You care a lot about the both of them."

"Of course I-“ he cut himself off, turning and looking at her, anger filling him in a bubbling wave. Demons weren’t really supposed to care like that, but it didn’t change the fact that those feelings were festering inside him all the time now. "Why didn’t Samael ask me that!"

"Ask you what?" Sheimi was as calm as ever despite the anger radiating off the earth king, her voice soothing in a way that almost upset him more.

"Why didn’t he ask what I wanted!?" His free hand moved around in the air as he spoke, his body hunched as he threw himself into the thoughts he’d been skirting around all day since the time king had left. "I told him I wanted Rin and he just said no! He made that decision! Why didn’t we make it together!?" He didn’t know, well he knew, it was because Samael was a dick, but he didn’t know why when he made a decision he always considered how it would affect the elder demon, but when Samael made a decision he hardly seemed to think of Amaimon. He only ever thought about what was 'best'. "And! And! Then he goes and gets in a fight with Rin, and Rin almost kills him and I hit Rin with a pipe and did either of them ask how I felt about that! No!" He was fuming just thinking about it, they’d said sorry, but they hadn’t asked him if he was okay. 

Yes, he didn’t outwardly express emotions often, but that didn’t mean he hadn't been scared. For one of the few times in his life he’d been scared...

The truth of that sunk into him and his anger washed away. 

Yes, it was annoying that Samael tended to prioritize his plans over him and made decisions that reflected that, but what really struck him was the worry that had settled in his mind. 

"It scared me..." he admitted aloud, he felt tears well in his eyes as he looked at the ground, digging his fists against his eyelids to try and push them away. He was the earth king damnit he didn’t cry, this was stupid. 

"That’s okay." Sheimi stood and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"What?"

"That’s okay," She repeated, "They got in a bad fight and it worried you, that’s normal."

Normal? What did that even mean? Was this pain common? How could something that he couldn't even explain be 'normal'? "But I..." he wanted to tell her that he was a demon king, he wasn’t supposed to get worried, or scared. He wasn’t supposed to care, but he knew that wasn’t true. The truth was almost losing his mate had upset him, had shook him, and no one had really checked in.

"You love them, Amaimon. It’s okay to be scared of losing them."

* * *

Rin fought a gasp as Mephisto teleported them into the woods, the elevation change making his ears pop. He stood behind thick brush, looking out into a clearing that ended in a rocky cliff-face. Mephisto pawed at his legs, causing him to look down at the small dog in front of him. He picked the demon up without protest, opening the front of his jacket to let him settle in against him. 

"You might not like this part." Mephisto said as Rin buttoned him in, nosing momentarily at his neck to take in his scent. 

He looked down at him, "What now?"

"Remember when I showed you Shiro at the bar the last time you went to the past?" 

Rin dug the heels of his hands into his eyes, "Gross, gross, no, you are not about to show me the two of you fucking."

"No, I’m not about to show you us fucking." Mephisto growled, rolling his eyes, "Pay attention."

Rim removed his hands, looking over as Shiro appeared, stumbling a bit before plopping down into the rocky grass, looking up at the stars with a smile. His eyes widened as he watched them speak, a tenderness in both their voices that he’d hardly ever heard. Especially from Mephisto. 

He’d never heard the time king speak so openly about his aspect and the world. His usual cryptic speech fell away, smiling as he spoke with Shiro's mouth.

Rin tried to think about what Mephisto had been before he’d gained an ego, finding himself looking up at the night sky. He held that very being close to his chest. He reached out with his power, feeling for Samael's aspect. It was deep and seemingly endless, he ran his own aspect along the edges. He felt like questions, like the wonder Rin felt when he looked up into the stars, like curiosity and uncertainty and openness.

He did this every now and then while they slept since he had fully awakened as a demon and found that he could sense demons in a deeper sense. Could feel what they really were beyond their bodies. It made him feel closer to them when sometimes it was hard too. When they felt far away it was a comfort. 

Mephisto shivered in his arms, looking up at him, "I can feel that you know."

"O-Oh, I knew that," Rin said, attention snapping back to where Shiro lay, magic pulling away from Mephisto in a rush.

"Pay attention."

"Yeah, yeah, sure, I mean, I am." Rin stumbled through his words, he’d never been caught before. He didn’t even know if it meant something weird to demons. He’d found in his short time as a full demon that they had many odd mannerisms and ways of acting, many of which could be construed suggestively. He couldn’t count the times he’d been doing something normal and caught the two demons watching him with hungry eyes. For all he knew he might have just copped a feel. 

His ears twitched towards the sound of snickering, Mephisto laughing against him at his embarrassment.

He reddened further as he forced himself to really focus, suddenly wishing he’d still been thinking about Mephisto and looking at the stars as he saw Shiro lower his hands into his pants and pull himself out. "Oh gross!" He hissed, covering his eyes again, "Bastard I thought you said you wouldn’t make me watch."

"Listen!" Mephisto said, biting the cuff of his jacket sleeve and pulling one of his hands away focusing Rin just in time for him to hear Mephisto tell Shiro he didn’t have to have sex with him. His feelings of embarrassment flew away for a short moment as he realized he’d never seen Mephisto turn sex down, hadn't seen him turn anything down except when Shiro offered something. Watching them in the hospital and now, those were the only times Mephisto had said no to a gift. He hadn’t even granted Rin that option...unless he considered him asking the time king to claim him. 

Mephisto jumped out of his arms as Shiro reassured him that he did want to have sex, motioning for Rin to follow him down the mountain, leaving Shiro behind.

After a few minutes of silence, Rin spoke up, "Why did you ask if he wanted it, why did you make sure?"

"It was only polite, Rin." 

Rin didn’t believe that. He had never seen Mephisto seriously ask what someone wanted, not even Amaimon if he were being honest with himself. He always had an ulterior motive when he asked such things, always prompting someone into answering how he wanted them too. Yet, Mephisto had had nothing to gain when he asked Shiro what he wanted, and had turned down gifts any demon would have been quick to snatch up. A perfect host, a good lay... why had he hesitated? 

Mephisto didn’t seem keen on answering, letting Rin follow behind him without saying anymore before without warning they were warping again, teleporting back to Japan.

Rin blinked in the bright light of Mephisto’s bathroom, looking around to find that the demon king had returned to his more human form. "Are we in the present?" He asked, confused as to why Mephisto would only show him what he had. It hadn't answered any of his questions or explained why they couldn’t be together. 

"No, this is only a few minutes later," Mephisto explained, gesturing to the small crack in the doorway. Rin approached it to look through.

Beyond the door Shiro was pressed between Amaimon and Mephisto, looking as pale as printer paper and absolutely pissed. Amaimon and Mephisto talked softly to one another, but he could hear the mischief in their voices and the way Amaimon’s tail twisted over the covers was evidence enough that he was having fun.

Amaimon's hand dipped under Shiro's clothes, sending embarrassed heat spilling through him. He’d known that Amaimon must have known about Mephisto's interactions with Shiro, but he hadn’t envisioned all three of them together. Amaimon’s tail tightened around Shiro's wrist, eager to play even as Shiro seemed to be on the verge of a panic attack. 

Mephisto laughed softly, teasing Shiro until he pulled away angrily only for him to be tugged back down into both demon's embrace and Rin closed his eyes, in no mood to watch both of his boyfriends, or whatever they were now, sleep with his dad. But when no more words reached his ears he cracked open an eyelid, watching as Mephisto soothed Shiro to sleep, all three of them settling down for the night. 

He turned back to his own time king, wondering why he’d been shown such a seemingly inconsequential scene. Before he could speak however they were warped away to busy streets, Mephisto motioning for him to walk into an upscale looking apartment building. 

"Where are we now?" He asked, looking around as Mephisto led him into the glittering halls. 

"Only a few miles away, you need your rest." Mephisto said as they got into an elevator. 

Rin watched through the glass as the lobby grew smaller and smaller, Mephisto taking them to the top floor. It would have been nice, but the energy pouring off Mephisto sent a chill down his spine, muscles tensing in response even as he tried to push the urge away, knowing he would be able to sense Rin's apprehension.

They stepped out into a large entrance room, lights from the city pouring in to glitter on the expensive looking tile. They passed a vase that looked like it cost more than Rin's tuition. The air weighed heavily with the scent of cleanliness and the smell only rich places seemed to carry, a cold, unreal distance. He could smell it had been unlived in for months if not years, “What is this place?”

“A safe house, so to speak, I have quite a few spread out over the world that I maintain in case of time travel, emergencies, or simple vacations.” Mephisto explained, stepping towards the large windows and looking out over the city, gesturing vaguely towards a hallway to the right, “You should get some rest.”

Rin looked down the hallway, its white walls and tile seeming to stretch on further than it logically could. He wondered why Mephisto was allowing him this break, the pace they had taken the last time he had time traveled had been quick, with little room to breath. “Are you going to sleep with me?"

"Not tonight, Rin."

  
  


* * *

Shiro woke with a start, snore cutting off in his throat as his hair stood on end. Demons were near. Years of being trained as an exorcist had his nerves setting on fire, danger was close if this was a mission he’d have to run and run fast before he-

Oh. 

It was just this idiot.

The sleep faded from his eyes, gaze landing on Mephisto’s sleeping form and the spike of green hair that rose from his chest where Amaimon curled. 

Reptilian eyes opened, pupils slivering to points, grin scrawling across his face as he saw the disgruntled look on Shiro’s face, “Worm~” he purred, tail lifting to curl in the air, caressing the bangs from Mephisto’s face possessively.

“Demon.”

“So original.” He said, nosing at Mephisto’s neck, his soft purr picking up an octave as Mephisto’s breathing changed, an echoing purr starting in his chest. 

“Mm, Amaimon.” He hummed, waking up slowly, body stiffening as he stretched under the covers, “I haven’t slept like that in a while,” he sat up, looking down at Shiro, “Have fun last night?”

Shiro fought a flush at the teasing tone in Mephsito’s voice, looking away as Amaimon snickered. “Yeah.”

Mephisto reached out pinching Shiro’s cheek hard enough for a bruise to form as he shook Shiro’s head from side to side, “No pouting.”

Shiro slapped his hand and tried not to pout, not wanting to give Mephisto the satisfaction, “Stop being an idiot.”

Mephisto smiled, leaning down to kiss Amaimon deeply, the earth king rising to meet him. Shiro’s gaze was drawn to the kiss, watching as the two demons melted against each other, fangs flashing between their lips as Amaimon slipped his tongue into the time king’s mouth, tail curling around Mephisto’s wrist.

As they pulled away from one another Amaimon’s eyes slid toward him, wearing that same shit eating grin as before. Mephisto pretended not to notice as he turned to Shiro, “I’ve got a meeting today, you can have the day off. You had a long night.”

“And hopefully a long night tonight too.” Amaimon grinned, making Shiro’s breath catch in his throat at the suggestion. 

“Of course~” Mephisto said, snapping himself clean and into his clothes and giving Amaimon one last peck on the cheek, “How about you show him around the mansion?”

Amaimon hummed a small, halfhearted response as Mephisto disappeared in a cloud of smoke. 

Tension wound up Shiro’s spine as he was left alone with the earth king. Mephisto was far stronger than Amaimon, but Shiro knew his mannerisms and knew him well enough to not fear death at every turn. Amaimon could strike at any moment for any reason and he hardly tried to hide the fact that he wasn’t human.

Mephisto masked the more demonic parts of him carefully, luring the humans around him into a state of calm and while Shiro knew that that was part of what made him more dangerous, Amaimon’s dismissal of human mannerisms was more unnerving. 

Before he could react the earth king was on top of him. He stiffened, hand coming up to push Amaimon away, fingers curling in his robe which, as he leaned over Shiro had fallen open. He tried to shove Amaimon off as the demon leaned down, sniffing at his neck, slim, green tail sliding up his leg, tongue tracing along his jugular. At the hint of fangs against his skin Shiro’s adrenaline spikes as he heaved forward, flipping Amaimon over and pinning him to the bed.

“I can see why Samael likes you,” Amaimon hummed, his tail still moving against Shiro’s leg, slowly teasing the slit in his robe open wider. “He’s always preferred the stubborn ones.”

Shiro glared down at him, lowering his hand to bat Amaimon’s tail away from his robe’s tie where it had begun to tug at the fabric, before he was able to though Amaimon’s hand shot out, tightening around his wrist, claws threatening to break through his skin.

“Don’t touch that.” Amaimon growled, launching Shiro backwards where he landed on the rest of Mephisto’s ridiculously large bed, Amaimon prowling over him.

“If you didn’t want it touched, you should have kept it hidden.” Shiro said, eyes narrowing up at Amaimon as the demon did what he’d been trying to with his tail, opening his robe up and exposing him fully.

“And you shouldn’t put up a fight when you’re already excited,” Amaimon shot back, boldly reaching out to take Shiro's already half hard length in his hand. "Why not just be honest, the danger gets you off."

Shiro flinched as he was touched, his sudden movement causing Amaimon's claws to scrape against his sensitive skin. Amaimon laughed as the feeling only made his dick jump expectantly in response. "Shut up." 

"Again, original. Though I’ve never seen him pick a worm with much brains."

"Must be why he likes you." Shiro huffed, the response only making Amaimon laugh.

"Oh ouch, I’m hurt." He said, leaning down to lick Shiro's neck again, the way he hummed against his throat only made Shiro stiffen. 

"You'd better not kill me." Shiro hissed, as teeth teased his skin the same way they had before, his tone carrying a threat even while expressing his legitimate worry. Amaimon could have been preparing to eat him for all he knew, toying with his food beforehand. 

"Not today, worm. Samael and I don’t kill each other’s toys without reason." Amaimon purred, nipping his skin lightly and licking up the blood, tracing a trail down his chest, red smearing against his skin as he squirmed. 

"Shiro."

"Hm?"

"My name is Shiro." The least Amaimon could do was call him by his name as they... Shiro swallowed thickly as his mind played out the rest of where this was going, it truly sinking in that he was about to have sex with the demon king of earth. Mephisto was one thing, but he hadn’t even known of Amaimon's presence in Assiah before last night, let alone met him. He looked down, meeting those gold eyes, practically hypnotized as Amaimon spoke.

"Shiro." 

The sound of his name from Amaimon's lips sent chills down his spine, warmth pooling in his gut. The way he said it, so soft, so quiet, knowing exactly what he was doing as his lips formed the word perfectly. 

He moved over him, slow and deliberate, leaning down to lick the tip of his ear as he moaned the sound of his name, stroking his cock in time, "Shiro, Shiro, Shiro."

He keened, bucking up into the touch and sound, "Fuck..." he growled as Amaimon’s tongue continued to trace the shell of his ear, making goosebumps break out against his skin, "Could you please just-!"

"Just what? Shiro." Amaimon asked, squeezing him just enough for it to edge on painful. 

Shiro hissed at the sensation, legs spreading a bit automatically despite how he fought to subdue his reactions, knowing Amaimon already knew he enjoyed fear and pain but not wanting to give him the satisfaction, "Just get on with it."

"Such a boring way to put it." Amaimon pouted a bit as he sat back, winding his long tongue around his fingers, nudging Shiro's legs apart further.

"Wait aren’t you going to use lube!" Shiro protested, as one clawed finger pressed hard against him, making him tense with the pain 

"This is punishment for sleeping with my Samael." He said, grinning down at him, spreading his free hand across Shiro's chest, dark claws leaving cuts in their wake as he roughly stretched him.

"I thought you two had an open relationship!" Shiro gasped as he was cut, trying not to squirm, knowing that if he did the fingers filling him would cut him as easily as the ones on his chest did, his legs bending upwards as his hands fisted in the sheets.

"We do, but it’s still good to remind you who he really belongs to." Amaimon hummed, returning to tracing his tongue across Shiro's neck, nudging his head back until he had no choice but to look upwards, exposing the whole of his throat in a display of submission that brought a purr to Amaimon's chest, "It’s important you worms learn your place quickly, so you don’t go getting ideas."

He wanted to slap the grin Amaimon pressed to his skin off his face, the demon's lips curling around his teasing words as he sucked dark bruises into his neck, marking him as if to say both he and Samael were his property and Shiro could do nothing about. Before he could retort Amaimon pulled away, flipping him over roughly onto his hands and knees.

Fingers curled roughly around his hip as Amaimon shucked his robe, letting it pool around him. Shiro's eyes widened as he rutted against him, cock sliding against his legs, head teasing his rim as he thrust slowly against him. A deep flush filled his cheeks, head turning to look and make sure his nerves weren’t over exaggerating how big Amaimon felt. His mouth dried as he caught a glimpse of Amaimon smirking down at him out of the corner of his eye, large cock pressing against his thigh. Definitely not an over exaggeration. 

Amaimon's tail caressed Shiro's backside in an action that almost had him tempted to relax before it raised and cracked against him like a whip. He yelped at the stinging pain, Amaimon purring at the redness he had put there with his strike and the growing purple welt. 

He reached forward hand splaying across Shiro's back, pushing him down roughly, "Keep your spine arched," he commanded, hand continuing to press him down as he lined himself up, starting to force himself into Shiro.

Already!? Shiro knew this was supposed to be some sort of punishment but Amaimon had hardly used his fingers to prepare him, rushing through his stretching as if it were an afterthought. He clenched his teeth, eyes screwing shut as pain filled him. He’d never done this before. Sure he’d done a few things by himself, but he’d never been taken and the idea of having his first time so unceremoniously taken by Amaimon made him equal parts angry and turned on. Amaimon was right, the danger excited him. Though, Mephisto was the only danger he’d thought he’d be around.

Still, the claws on his back, the unfamiliar presence of Amaimon behind him, and the low predatory growl that escaped him as he pushed into him, slow, but unforgiving, had him trembling, cock leaking precum between his legs in a pearlescent drip. "F-Fuck."

He shook, Amaimon thrusting into him, burying himself deep inside of him and stretching Shiro far more than he has ever dared to stretch himself. The feeling of being so full stole his breath, bringing him to tuck his shaking arms under his chest and push himself upward, trying to regain some control.

Amaimon didn’t let him take it though, snapping his fingers to tighten a dark collar around his neck, hand curling around a glinting, silver chain. He yanked it hard, bringing Shiro roughly heel as he collapsed back against the bed, hips held up roughly by Amaimon’s other hand, "I said, keep your spine arched, worm." Amaimon snarled, tail smacking him hard once again, causing Shiro to gasp.

His hands lifted, clawing at the collar around his neck as Amaimon continued to pull the chain, "I’m not some dog!" He hissed, but Amaimon couldn’t have cared less, pulling almost all the way out of him only to thrust back in hard, making him cry out in pain.

"Sure sound like one." Amaimon said, looking down at where their bodies were connected with a grin, setting a quick pace as he began to move fully, drinking in the cries he pulled from Shiro.

His teeth dug into the sheets, whole body clenching tight with the pain of Amaimon fucking roughly into him, muffled cries sinking into the mattress. Damnit! He couldn’t let Amaimon just get off without at least retaliating for the treatment. Sure he was pretty certain he was harder than he’d ever been between the adrenaline and intense feeling of danger despite having been promised he wouldn’t be killed, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t pissed. 

Shiro panted, focusing on thinking past the pain and the low sparks of the pleasure that was starting to run through the haze as Amaimon thrust against his prostate over and over, intentional or not, Shiro couldn’t tell. He pulled away from the sheet just slightly, biting deep into his lip until the metallic taste of blood filled his mouth, carefully wiping up the blood with his finger and hoping Amaimon was distracted enough to not see what he was doing. Under his chest, out of view he drew a messy, but functional sigil, mumbling the fatal verse for a high level earth demon under his breath.

Amaimon cried out in sudden pain, the smell of burning skin filled the air. The collar around Shiro’s neck tightened, Amaimon pulling the chain so hard he lifted Shiro up and against his chest. The change in angle made Shiro's head spin as Amaimon observed his work, "A worm that plays," He purred, lowering his hand to Shiro's neglected cock as if to reward him for fighting back.

Shiro grinned as he got the game. 

He caught sight of Amaimon's tail, grabbing it quickly and tugging. Amaimon retaliated by sinking his teeth into his shoulder with a growl, and while it hurt it was just what Shiro wanted, feeling how with every misbehavior Amaimon stroked him faster, spurring him on. He leaned into Amaimon’s chest, reaching back and smearing the blood from his shoulder into another sigil on Amaimon’s thigh, this one searing straight into his skin.

Amaimon snarled, shoving him forward and pulling his chain taut to the point where he couldn’t breath. A choking gasp escaped him as his eyes widened, clawing at the collar. He’d thought Amaimon wanted to be hurt and had been rewarding him for fighting. 

Amaimon leaned over, murmuring in his ear as he continued to slam into him, "Relax, I said I won’t kill you."

It was a hollow comfort at first, but then as the world grew fuzzy around him, Amaimon telling him to relax once more, it became bliss.

This was his reward.

This feeling of floating, his body numbing to the pain of Amaimon’s rough motions and focusing solely on the pleasure which seemed to spark amplified across his body. 

As he relaxed he realized he could breath just enough to stay conscious, tension leaving him. He slackened underneath Amaimon, moaning at the newfound pleasure, legs spreading wider as he gave in fully, half drunk off oxygen deprivation.

Amaimon purred as he felt Shiro melt under him, tail gliding down to coil around his cock, stoking him in time with his unforgiving, but rhythmic movements as he held the chain tight.

Shiro whined, moaning and shaking as he felt warmth fill him, hints of his end teasing the periphery of his senses, "M-More!" He managed to gasp out, the words scraping his throat in a low burn, but it was enough, Amaimon moving faster as his slim tail rubbed and teased the slit of his cock.

The haze about him made him feel as if he were having a wet dream, every movement clouded but desperate as he pushed himself back to meet Amaimon, wanting to take all of him in. This was easily the best lay he’d ever gotten and although he’d never been taken he didn’t have to to know that Amaimon would have blown any other man far, far out of the water.

Amaimon leaned over him, his weight warm against his back, fangs nipping his ear, "I need you to come for me, Shiro."

He bucked into the touch of Amaimon’s tail against his length, wanting to cum so badly, fingers twisting in the sheets as he pushed himself back onto Amaimon faster and faster, meeting his punishing thrusts.

"Do you think you can do that for me, Shiro?"

God the sound of his name, the way Amaimon repeated it just the way he’d said it that first time. Shiro could imagine his lips forming around the word, his fangs flashing as they grazed his shoulder now, breath hot against his back. He managed a shaky nod, so close already, Amaimon’s tail coiling around him in an undulating rhythm.

He was so close, aching for it, moaning broken cuss words into the bed. "F-Fuck Amaimon..." he choked, need just a bit more, just a small bit more so he could-

Amaimon gave it to him, grip on his collar disappearing as he whispered, "Cum for me, Shiro."

And he did. 

Finally able to breathe he gasped for air, orgasm hitting him hard with the rush of air he pulled in. He wasn’t sure if he screamed, overcome with the sensation of relief, release smearing against Amaimon’s tail to add to the slick. 

Amaimon shoved hard and fast into him, fucking him through his intense finish until his teeth clamped down on Shiro's shoulder finishing deep inside him with a growl that he Shiro moaning, legs spreading wider still and thrusting back against him greedily as Amaimon slowed to a stop.

Amaimon purred, enjoying the sensation of Shiro grinding against him, cock dripping against his tail, still so needy. He pulled his teeth from Shiro’s shoulder, tracing the wounds with his tongue, "Good boy."

Shiro panted, chest heaving as he shook in the aftermath, slumping down boneless against the bed as Amaimon slid out of him. He could feel Amaimon’s cum sliding down his thigh, it finally hitting him what exactly he’d done. He didn’t want to dwell on it though, flopping over onto his side before flinching in surprise as rough claws tangled in his hair. Amaimon pushed his head back, exposing his neck and nosing once more at his pulse momentarily before pressing their lips together in a kiss that was more like a fight, teeth tearing at Shiro's lips.

His heart raced as Amaimon finally pulled away, standing from the bed with a stretch, summoning a towel and messily wiping off his dick, tossing the soiled fabric to the ground in a way Shiro knew Mephisto would hate. "Aren’t you going to shower?" He asked as Amaimon tugged his robe on.

"You sound like Samael."

Shiro didn’t think he’d ever been so insulted. "Well, I’m going to shower." He grumbled, scooting to the edge of the bed and trying to stand only to fall back, legs trembling underneath him. He heard Amaimon let out a small snort of laughter, the sound grating at him until the feeling of frustration was stolen by dizziness. He fell back against the sheets, feeling clamminess creep up the back of his neck. "F-Fuck you bit me so much." He groaned, pressure pushing into the mattress beside him, Amaimon placing a hand across his forehead. Why hadn’t he thought about the damage Amaimon's demonic presence would do to his body? That’s what he got for thinking with his dick. 

"I can help, I've taken humans before." Amaimon said, voice surprisingly helpful as he summoned a bundle of herbs, pressing at Shiro's jaw until he opened it begrudgingly, pushing the plants into his mouth.

Their flavor burned on his tongue, their bitterness making him gag. Amaimon’s hand covered his mouth and nose as if to force him to swallow, but it wasn’t needed he’d eaten worse out in the field and he knew the gross flavor was better than the pain of his body rebelling against his wounds. He chewed quickly, swallowing hard to force the leaves down. Smacking Amaimon’s hand away he sat up with a cough, grimacing as he waited for the medicine to kick in.

"You didn’t complain nearly as much as I thought you would." Amaimon said in what may have been a complement, Shiro couldn’t quite read him yet. 

"I’ve been in the field before, eaten worse on missions." Shiro huffed, rubbing the bridge of his nose until he stopped feeling like he was spinning. 

Amaimon snapped, cleaning Shiro up, "Want to eat something better?"

"If you mean your dick then no." He resisted saying maybe later. 

"I mean food."

Shiro flopped back against the bed, eyeing Amaimon out of the corner of his eye as he tried to decide if his stomach was settled enough to eat. "Mexican, delivery." He said with a decisive nod, figuring he’d feel better by the time it arrived. 

"As long as it’s not instant ramen." Amaimon said, summoning a phone and handing it to Shiro so he could look up a restaurant and order what he wanted, "Just double whatever you get, I’ll eat that."

Shiro let out a small snort, "He makes you eat those things too?" He asked as he dialed, a small smile on his lips as Amaimon nodded, the two of them snickering a bit. He ordered quickly, taking the credit card Amaimon pushed into his hand and deciding to order more as he read Mephisto's name across the top of it. 

As he hung up the phone he felt how the atmosphere had shifted around them into something much more relaxed and as he felt some of his strength returning he motioned to the television, "Does he have any good video games?"

"A few," Amaimon conceded, walking over to the couch and booting up a game, handing a controller to Shiro as he padded over, settling down and selecting his fighting character.

  
  


* * *

They spent the rest of the day like that, Shiro curling up in some blankets as his body continued to fight off the poison of Amaimon’s cuts and bites. He had overestimated how much he could eat, spurred on by the idea of spending Mephisto’s money, piles of chips, half eaten quesadillas, and picked through burritos lying about haphazardly as Amaimon seemed to eat endlessly. 

It wasn’t until the sun burned low outside the large windows that the door opened, the familiar sound of Mephisto's footsteps clicking against the tile. "Why does it smell like salsa in here?" He huffed, even as the annoyance on his voice sounded paper thin, almost playful. 

Amaimon paused their game, turning around and leaning over the back of the couch, his tail waving from side to side in a way that made Shiro want to yank it. He smiled, exposing his fangs, the expression making something in Shiro's chest ache. Yuri had smiled at him like that before. The memory stung, but the way Amaimon's eyes flicked to his for only a moment, smile widening as he did, soothed the raw edges of his thoughts. "We got take out."

Mephisto met Amaimon, leaning down to kiss him, making Shiro marvel once more at how they moved against one another. How long had they been together? Amaimon had gotten his body in section thirteen, a clone of Mephisto himself. Had they been involved longer than that? Had the clone been a sign of Mephisto’s affections? He tried not to think about the ramifications of considering a human body a lovely Valentine’s Day gift so to speak. 

"I see that, and with my card no doubt." Mephisto said, his gaze finally dragging to Shiro's own, leaning down to offer him a kiss as well before stopping short. Shiro had to bite back a whine, not wanting to look desperate or like he actually cared for the clown, "Amaimon he’s got a fever and your scent is all over him don’t tell me you two..." he trailed off, knowing there wasn’t a point to asking, not when he caught sight of the bite marks poking out from under Shiro's blanket. He placed his head on his hand tiredly, "I was only gone for a few hours, really."

"I had to teach him his place." Amaimon said, matter of fact, "You should thank me, he’s much more relaxed now."

"Probably because you poisoned him then fed him a bunch of plants. I’m surprised he’s conscious, let alone enough to eat."

"You were right he’s fun to play with," Amaimon hummed, ignoring Mephisto’s light scolding about hurting Shiro, "He fights back."

"Probably because you forced him."

Amaimon opened his mouth to say something, but Shiro spoke up before he could. He didn’t want Mephisto to think Amaimon had really hurt him, he wasn’t sure if demon's cared about that or not, though. What he was more concerned about was getting to fuck Amaimon again, he felt hot just remembering being bent over and taken until he couldn’t think straight. "We had fun, Amaimon takes a hit better than you do."

Amaimon snickered, nodding along with the light tease. "I don’t complain."

"And I see why you change into a dog now, you practically have to, keeping a bastard like this in your bed," Shiro added, remembering how the collar had felt around his neck as he and Amaimon shared a knowing glance.

"And Shiro makes such nice noises, I’ve never heard anything like it."

"And Amaimon was so rough, I can’t imagine you touching me like that.

"And-!"

Mephisto snapped, dumping the both of them unceremoniously onto the bed, "I should have known you’d both draw out your worst tendencies." He said, pinning Shiro to the mattress and nipping at his ear, "You’re both nuisances really." 

Shiro shivered as he felt Mephisto's demonic presence tease along the edges of his consciousness, the prodding turning him on more than he’d likely ever admit, though from Mephisto's low chuckle he figured he could tell.

"Let me heal your wounds properly, you can hardly play with us looking like this." He murmured, licking over Amaimon’s bites, scenting out the wounds that still sickened him. He bit down around one, adding his own mark and mixing Amaimon’s scent with his own.

"It’s not that bad, you bastard," Shiro growled, trying to push himself up on his elbows and force Mephisto over, only to fall back as he became dizzy again. Sitting and playing video games had made it feel as if he was nearly better, but moving made it clear that he wasn’t exactly ready for their kind of play. 

Mephisto laughed as he was pushed at, undoing Shiro’s robe and running his fingers along the bruises Amaimon had left, "I'm going to possess you then I want you to show me all the places Amaimon touched you."

Mephisto's tone curled up his spine, just as insistent as his demonic presence, prodding for a way in and as Shiro glanced over, seeing Amaimon slipping off his own robe he found himself giving in. "Only if we can pay him back for this morning," he groaned, arching his neck up into Mephisto's touch before the weight on top of him disappeared. 

It felt as if he was being pushed back into his skull, warmth pouring over him even as he shivered. For a moment pressure seemed to coil behind his forehead before slipping along the edges of his muscles, sinking in.

He sucked in a sharp breath, Mephisto opening their eyes, "Mm, we can certainly do that." He purred, trailing his hand down their chest, "Now, show me."

The command had him whining lowly, cock stiffening between their legs, taking control of their other hand and running his fingers across the already healing marks on his neck. 

"Close to killing you," Mephisto hummed, the feeling of him speaking so odd when Shiro wanted to bite his lips. The mention of how close he’d been to death sent adrenaline pushing through him, "but Amaimon is far more gentle than anyone gives him credit." A claw dug into his throat, the pain ripping through him even as they moaned together. Mephisto cut along where Amaimon had bit him, creating new marks that were even more damaging. 

Fear sang in the back of Shiro's mind, these wounds were deep enough to kill, blood pouring down his neck and over his chest, but he didn’t feel weakened, Mephisto's healing keeping him alive and making each pierce of his claw more and more exciting. 

Amaimon shifted on the bed coming close and Mephisto slid their eyes to him, "Come clean us." He said, Amaimon quickly did as he was told, straddling them and leaning down to run his mouth along his neck, tongue winding along the edges of their wounds. 

Shiro bucked up onto Amaimon’s hips, grinding against him, lengths rubbing along each other. Amaimon reached to stroke them together, but he found his hand wrapping around the earth king's wrist, fingers clenching harder than he ever could have alone.

"Not yet Amaimon, you touched Shiro without my permission, so watch as I cover your handiwork." The words slid out under fangs that filled Shiro's mouth in a way that felt all at once foreign and comfortably familiar, his brain telling him he’d never had fangs while Mephisto's presence dictated he wouldn’t be whole without them. 

The statement ripped a growl from Amaimon’s throat, bending over to bite at their lips, "I touched him here too," he snarled, stealing their breath with a kiss and greedily swallowing their moans as he grabbed their tail. The shock was foreign to Shiro and sent another flutter of excitement through him. Amaimon pulled and they cried out at the pain, arching their back into it, brushing their cocks together yet again in the process.

Shiro moved to bite Amaimon back, Mephisto purring as he did so. He could practically hear the laugh the time king would have given had they not been preoccupied with licking the blood from Amaimon’s mouth. The flavor was intoxicating, bringing to life instincts that shocked Shiro. He wanted to rip the demon apart and eat him piece by piece.

"Not yet," Mephisto murmured, smiling as Amaimon tilted his head, "Shiro says he wants to devour you."

Amaimon groaned, winding his fingers through their hair and pulling their head back to expose their neck even further, "You'd better give Samael what he wants then, so you can take me faster."

Mephisto smiled in a way that was all too familiar to Shiro, even if it was in a new context, "Yes Shiro, give me what I want. Where else did he touch you?"

Shiro lowered their hand, slowly tracing the cuts on his sides and hips, shuddering under their touch. He experimented with lifting their tail, flicking it from Amaimon's grasp and tangling it around their lengths, stroking them together clumsily before Mephisto took over, the sensation making them gasp, "He touched me like this," Shiro panted, Amaimon grinding down hard against them, and he lifted both of his hands, wrapping his fingers around Amaimon's throat, "And this." 

Mephisto surged them upwards, pinning Amaimon down by his throat, squeezing hard, "Where else?"

A smile scrawled across their lips as Shiro clicked together the rest of Mephisto's game. He moved one of their hands down, keeping the other clenched tight around Amaimon's throat until he had to shift back, wishing their arms were long enough to do what he wanted.

Luckily Mephisto’s quick to act as they moved off Amaimon, removing their tail from their cocks and wrapping it around the earth kings neck while Shiro nudged Amaimon’s legs apart.

"He touched me here too." He said darkly, pushing his newly clawed fingers deep into Amaimon without preparation. It’s what he deserved for his rough treatment. 

Amaimon hissed as he was spread, swallowing thickly against the tail choking him. A low growl escaped his lips, claws flexing in the sheets as they pushed a third finger inside. Part of Shiro worried it was a bit too fast, but another part of him reminded him Amaimon was a demon and could more than take it. Mephisto reassured him too, purring in his mind, his being seeming to curl around his consciousness, murmuring that Amaimon adored the treatment. 

Shiro found the feeling of Mephisto whispering to him intoxicating, his energy running from the base of his skull to the tip of his tail which continued to tighten around Amaimon's neck until he bowed his back, keening through his teeth. 

He pulled his fingers from Amaimon, arms lifting his legs up around their waist, lines between their minds blurring as it had the night before in the mountains. Shiro didn’t know where he ended. Mephisto didn’t feel separate or different, part of him and deeply hungry.

Pushing into Amaimon drew a snarl from him, the warmth was familiar; he'd been inside someone before, but not like this.

"Mm how does your perfect host feel," Amaimon purred as his tail slipped from his neck to tangle with his own green one, rubbing in erratic coils.

"Fucking fantastic." His voice rumbled out around long fangs, the instinct to bite into Amaimon's neck and claim him thoroughly overwhelming. 

He sunk his teeth into the offered flesh, the taste of blood blooming across his tongue. Shiro felt his pupils sliver at the warmth, moaning as he felt Amaimon's pulse against his tongue. 

He thrust forward further, filling Amaimon completely as his claws settled possessively into his hips. Fingers tangled in his hair and he was yanked upwards just as he began to move, Amaimon kissing him hard.

Something welled up within them, burning bright in his mind's eye. For a brief moment he could have sworn he saw colors blending together in a hypnotic dance, the smell of cool summer nights and pulsing energy that burned almost electric racing across his senses and before he could ask what was happening the part of him he shared with Mephisto told him it was a claim.

The bond Amaimon had spoken of, the mixing of essences. It burned into him, bringing a purr rumbling up his throat. He felt how deeply Amaimon belonged to Mephisto, how down to his very concept he was the time king's and Samael was his as well. They were one, in totality. 

They were separate beings, they moved differently, even wanted different things, but their very atoms may have well been identical. 

No human relationship could come close, could burn like this.

Yet, beyond the claim's fire a different spark spun almost out of reach, but it was there unmistakably.

Shiro had felt it in his own life and in Mephisto's head. As Amaimon’s lips moved against theirs, tongue pushing into them Shiro felt it well up in Mephisto and through the claim he could taste just briefly the feeling within Amaimon too. 

Love.

Shiro gasped as he felt it, as Mephisto felt it and recognized Shiro's discovery. A snarl welled in the time king's chest as soon as Shiro thought the word love, anger tearing from inside him. Denial pushing through him and before he could even process what that meant, what that entailed, Mephisto had forced their body up and away from Amaimon, grabbing the earth king hard and spinning him around. 

Mephisto shoved him down into the mattress, growling over his fangs. Shiro wanted to ask what was going on, the moment had been so nice, but as Mephisto plunged them roughly into Amaimon, making the earth king yelp in surprise, he could feel a deep sense of defensiveness. 

Mephisto was shoving those emotions of love and caring away, both denying them and actively defending against them.

Amaimon’s hands fisted in the sheets, his eye brows knitting together for Shiro to see as he twisted his face to rest on one cheek, hissing through his teeth. It wasn’t a hiss of pain though, Shiro knew he could take the rough treatment. No, he had heard this sound before, a bit too often, if he were being honest with himself.

Frustration and hurt.

He had heard that type of annoyance from a few lovers, back when he was younger and more reckless. Had heard them huff, seen them roll their eyes or even slap him as their frustration with his actions grew. 

Amaimon was frustrated with Mephisto, he was annoyed and hurt and tired of this behavior. Shiro was quickly filled with the sense that this was far from the only time this had happened. 

He tried to tell Mephisto as much. Trying to tell him he was being childish, Amaimon had initiated a softer moment only to be brushed aside by Mephisto despite the fact that the time king felt the emotions Amaimon was attempting to prompt. But, he’d already been pushed far into the back of his body. He was thrown back against his mind, shoved away along with the softer feelings and denied the ability to come to the forefront. His limbs wouldn’t move like he wanted them to, Mephisto had taken absolute possession of him. He could no longer feel what it was like to take Amaimon, no pleasure washing over him. All he could do was watch as Mephisto denied his feelings and hurt Amaimon in the process. 

  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


Amaimon opened his eyes slowly, warmth and heat rising around him. Steam curled into the air from the hot spring, his tail swishing in the water. 

Sheimi hummed softly across the pool, maybe thinking that she couldn’t be heard over the sound of the water pouring in from the artificial waterfall. 

He had invited her here after she'd hit him over the head with the realization that he was in love. Couldn’t she have given him a bit of a warning on that? He didn’t know if he was ready for that sort of information. He’d panicked a bit, realizing she was right was a shock to him. So he’d invited her to a hot spring out of nowhere and while at first he’d thought she might be a touch apprehensive about suddenly being asked to technically be naked in front of a demon king she’d actually been ecstatic, asking where the bath house was.

Amaimon had felt awkward admitting it was inside the mansion, but she’d only laughed and said, "Of course Sir. Pheles would have one in his house." And he’d laughed too because yes, Mephisto was in fact that spoiled. 

Mephisto, the spoiled, idiot who had fought Rin almost to the death just the night before who he was in love with. 

He looked down at his chest, finding his claws drifting across his chest at the memory that lingered in his mind. It hadn’t been long ago, not even very long by human standards, but now it felt like a lifetime had passed between then and now. 

Shiro had been a fun human. Stubborn and always up for a fight. A bit like Rin, really. He didn’t take Mephisto's bullshit and he’d known how to make Amaimon laugh, mostly through pissing Mephisto off. He remembered their first time together, the first time all three of them had been together and within that memory something stung. He’d been so happy at first, Mephisto had looked so good with Shiro on and they had both seemed enthusiastic, but then he remembered kissing them and Mephisto snarling at him. Anger had bled through the time king and he’d become so rough and normally there was nothing wrong with rough, but that had been different. He didn’t know how it was different, he didn’t have the language for it and it frustrated him, but he knew it had upset him. Back then he’d acted like it hadn’t, had convinced himself he hadn’t been upset, but now he knew it had hurt. 

He knew Samael had denied him something. Denied them something. 

He'd denied Shiro something too...and Rin. 

Amaimon wondered how many times Samael had said no to these feelings. 

A warm hand touched his shoulder, making him flinch with rare genuine surprise. He’d been so engrossed in his worries and hurt that he hadn’t noticed Sheimi scooting over to him. 

"You're crying." She said softly and as he lifted his hand from his chest, touching his cheek gently, he realized she was right. "What’s wrong?"

What was wrong? 

He didn’t know. 

He didn’t know. How was he supposed to know? Everything was so confusing and his mind was rushing through memories of times when Samael had brushed what he now saw as displays of his affections aside. How many times had he gotten close to this realization only to have the emotions shoved down inside him by Samael?

Amaimon tried to focus on Samael's claim over him, tried to let their bond stabilize his thoughts, but his mind was rushing to a conclusion he could hardly comprehend, his mouth moving around the words before he knew what he was saying. 

"I don’t know if Samael loves me."

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one took a long time to put up. Things have really been wild these past few months!
> 
> Well, if your at home quarantined I hope this cheers you up a little bit, and now that I’m home too I hope to write more!
> 
> Comments and kudos appreciated!


	6. Skip Track

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rin remains in the past, Amaimon has some fun at church, Shiro holds a bug funeral, and Mephisto continues to be an ass.
> 
> Also! This chapter includes mentions of thebeingofeverything's lovely oc , Abduxuel, from their fic Briar Ros Syndrome!With permission of course uwu. If you haven’t read that it’s another Mephisto/Rin/Amaimon fic and it’s amazing! I definitely recommend it and it’s on here Ao3 so go read!
> 
> Also, also this chapter includes catholic shenanigans and I’m not catholic so sorry if the words for prayers aren’t accurate. T^T
> 
> Tw. Gore, uh demonic violent behavior stuff, and dead bugs (I know someone who gets real upset about bug death so idk if any of y’all have that but like a bug does get squished in this chapter and that’s a weird sentence but whatever)

Shiro awoke alone in his body and in Mephisto's bed. He stretched, finding that he wasn’t sore or sick anymore, which he’d expected, but it wasn’t often he came away from a sexual encounter without a touch of soreness. Not anymore anyway. He wasn’t getting any younger it seemed, especially with two kids around.

His chest ached at the thought. He hadn’t been home in days and while at first it was nice to be away from the screaming and crying now all he wanted to do was hold his sons close. It was always like this, he’d rejoice at getting a few quiet nights, then end up wishing he’d never left. Shiro didn’t know for certain when Rin and Yukio had gone from being Satan spawn, to Yuri's children, to his sons, but they had. 

Maybe there wasn’t one moment when people became important to you. Maybe it was a bunch of little moments, spread out over days or weeks, years or months. 

He looked over at Mephisto, the demon sleeping soundly as his side, Amaimon curled against his chest. When had this bastard become important to him? He didn’t know that either.

When had Mephisto and Amaimon become important to each other? 

Mephisto stirred, yawning softly as his hand lifted to scratch Amaimon's ear. The earth king purred in response, arching happily into the touch and Shiro remembered the feelings of love he had felt well up between the two the night before. He knew Mephisto knew about them, and was aware of how he’d shoved Shiro against the back of his mind and pushed Amaimon away. He also knew that Mephisto had no intention of talking about it. The exorcist could see that much in Mephisto's eyes when the demon slid his acid green gaze to meet his own.

Last night would never be spoken of between them, nor would the incident in the crowded New York streets. 

He wasn’t sure why, but the pressure he had felt by being fully possessed the night before was more than enough of a threat to keep quiet around him. 

"I have a meeting at the Vatican today." Mephisto said quietly, his hands possessive over Amaimon’s body, smoothing out the rough, uncalled for touches of the night before, seeming to chase their memory and burn them away as Amaimon grew steadily more conscious and cuddled against him as if nothing were wrong.

"Do I need to come with you?" Shiro asked, knowing that as the Paladin he could be called at any time to headquarters. 

"No." Mephisto said, his words soft, but carrying a finality Shiro did not fully understand. Amaimon leaned up for a kiss which Mephisto granted and in his movement Shiro could see how much he truly cared about the other demon king.

"I’m going to go back to the monastery then." Shiro said, sitting up and swinging his legs over the side of the bed. "Been a while since I’ve seen the boys."

Amaimon's ears perked at his words, shimmying to the edge of the bed on his belly, looking like a lizard who had pressed itself to the ground to creep beneath forest underbrush. It made him chuckle lightly as Amaimon's slit pupiled eyes lifted to focus on him, "Boys?"

"Our youngest siblings." Mephisto hummed, as he changed into his clothes. He reached out for Shiro, standing beside him and tangling their fingers together for only a moment before disappearing with a flash of smoke.

Shiro frowned as he watched him go, wishing he’d bothered to explain things to Amaimon further. Though admittedly he didn’t know how caught up with the situation Amaimon was. "What are you going to do all day?" He asked as they were left alone, trying to picture Amaimon poking around the mansion by himself, or worse, causing trouble in the city.

"I’m going to come with you." Amaimon answered, looking at him as he chewed on the nail on his thumb, "I’ve not gotten to meet father's offspring yet."

A disbelieving laugh dragged its way up Shiro's throat, "You, visit the twins? Ain’t happening." 

"Why not?" Amaimon growled, the sound ending with something that sounded a smidge too close to a whine for a demon king, "Samael won’t let me visit, but you can."

"And why do you think Mephisto won’t let you visit?"

Amaimon groaned and rolled over onto his back, stretching in a way that sent his tail shivering across the bed sheets. Shiro was almost tempted to climb on top of him. "Come on! It’ll be fun." 

"Don’t do that." Shiro grumbled, watching as Amaimon stretched yet again, legs spreading a bit, hand drifting down between his- "I said quit!"

"Let me come with you and I’ll reward you~" Amaimon purred, stroking himself as Shiro looked away, flustered.

"I’m not bringing you to visit my sons in exchange for sex!"

Amaimon sat up in a huff, running his clawed hands through his hair. "I’m not going to do anything. I don’t know why you and Samael have your panties in a bunch about it."

"You'll scare the other exorcists for one thing, and who knows you'll probably rile Rin up and scare Yukio half to death."

"Fine, fine." Amaimon said, focusing on everywhere but Shiro as he got dressed in his exorcist gear. 

Shiro had a feeling he didn’t mean it, but decided it was best not to poke any further in case Amaimon decided to try again, this time with less asking. He did not need anymore wounds.

As he turned to leave, waving his hand over his shoulder Amaimon teleported in front of him, "Where are you going?"

"I told you, the monastery."

"Not without saying goodbye," Amaimon chided, leaning in for a quick kiss, being careful with his fangs and scrapping just enough not to cut his lips. He grinned mischievously as he backed away, "Good boy."

With his parting gift and tease he let Shiro go. Belial was waiting outside the door to lead him through the maze of the Faust mansion, which he still hadn’t quite memorized. He could swear Mephisto teleported his room about every now and then like a bored middle class mom rearranging her furniture. 

By the time he got home he felt jittery, legs bouncing in the cab he had called because he hadn’t wanted to walk from the train station. He should have just used his key but he’d thought as he’d stepped out of the mansion and into the warm sun that a little air would do him good after staying inside sick with Amaimon's wounds the day before. 

Now though he just wanted to get home and hug his boys. 

They met him at the front gate, running out to greet him and wrapping their arms around him as he knelt down. "Mm I missed you guys," He said, burying his face in their shoulders until Rin pulled away and shoved a clenched fist into his face. 

"Dad! Dad! Dad! I caught a bug!" Rin bounced up and down, eagerly pushing his hand towards him. "A big stag beetle! Dad look! Look!"

"It’s gross!" Yukio protested, still clinging to Shiro's size. "It tried to bite me!"

"But I didn’t let it! I got it! Look dad!

"Okay, okay," Shiro said, trying to soothe the always over excited Rin, holding out his hand for the bug, but when Rin opened his hand the only thing there was the smashed broken body of the insect, his palm smeared with guts.

Rin looked down at it, excitement leaving in an instant. He went quiet, lower lip wavering as his eyes welled with tears.

"Hey, hey it’s okay, it’s alright." Shiro tried to soothe quickly but it was too late.

Rin threw his head back and screamed, crying loudly and balling his hands in his shirt, smearing it with guts. 

Yukio shook at his side, following along and starting to cry and scream loudly. He’d always started crying just as soon as Rin did.

Welcome home. 

It took a solid twenty minutes to get them to calm down even slightly, Shiro lifting the two of them into his arms and taking them to the kitchen. He kissed their cheeks as he sat them on the counter and washed the exoskeleton and guts off Rin's hands, his son sniffling and wiping his running nose with the back of his freehand. Shiro would have to clean that up too. 

"D-Dad?"

"Yes, love?" Shiro said, taking Rin's other hand in his and wiping off the snot. It had taken him a long while to refer to Rin and Yukio with the word love. Even though he’d been affectionate towards them almost from the beginning, saying he loved them so casually had taken him some time. He still remembered the first time he’d said it. Not casually like now, but seriously. 

They had both come down with nasty fevers, even Rin who had never been sick before. They were barely eight months old and spent the night fussing in his arms and throwing up, unable to keep anything down. He’d been trained as a doctor for the order but he’d never worked with babies. He didn’t know how to break their fevers and he could tell they were dehydrating fast. For the first time he’d been really, really worried, especially once Yukio's cries had lost steam, starting to waver, his head lolling to the side almost limply.

He’d rushed them to the emergency room in the middle of the night, panicking. Not because they were Satan spawn and Mephisto needed them for some convoluted plans, but because they were his sons. 

He’d paced around the Emergency Room, yelling at the woman on duty to hurry the doctor up and bouncing them in his arms, mostly just to give his hands something to do. 

He hadn’t gotten home till morning, prescription medication clutched tight in his hands, covered in Rin's spit up. He felt delirious when he finally laid them down, running his fingers through his hair and then he’d whispered it to them, so softly it made his chest ache, 'I love you two'. He’d sunk down in front of their crib and let exhaustion wash over him, tears of relief slipping down his cheeks. He’d been scared. He didn’t want to see them sick like that ever again. He didn’t want to worry, but he knew it was part of being their dad and being their dad meant loving them too. 

And he did. 

Why hadn’t he told them before? Why had he waited? He’d loved them for so long and he just hadn’t said because of some macho man tough bullshit, the kind Yuri has always chided him for. 

He didn’t want them to ever guess, to ever doubt his feelings. 

He fell asleep swearing to himself and Yuri to tell them he loved them everyday from there on out and he’d kept that promise. 

"Can we...can we um, put Mr. Beetle in the ground like how sometimes you do people?" Rin sniffed, pulling him from his thoughts, tears still running grimy rivulets down his red cheeks. 

"I just washed Mr. Beetle down the drain, sweetheart."

"I have a bug toy." Yukio offered, holding out his arms to be lowered from the counter. Shiro set him down, watching as he ran off and came back with a small stuffed ladybug. It wasn’t even the type of bug Rin had squished but Rin didn’t seem to care, jumping from the counter and taking the toy. 

"Look we can put it in the ground!" 

"I see that," Shiro said, smiling softly. It was ridiculous, he knew, but something about it still made him laugh at how serious Rin was. "Do you have a box?"

"Yeah Dad puts the people in boxes, Rin." Yukio pointed out, tone important as if he were trying to teach Rin something. 

Rin nodded vigorously and ran to the shoe cabinet by the back door, bringing back a shoe box. "Found one!"

Shiro took both bug and box and walked out the backyard, "Get your shovel, Rin."

Rin went to the small flower bed and picked up the little spade Shiro had given him. It wouldn’t help much compared to the actual shovel he picked up, but he knew Rin would like it if he pitched in. 

They dug the hole together, Yukio holding the shoe box as solemnly as he could manage before it was time to place it in the ground. Shiro moved to shovel the dirt onto it, but Rin stopped him, tugging at his shirt, "No you have to say the stuff!" He protested, making Shiro sigh softly. When had his kids become funeral experts?

"Okay I’ll say the prayers." He nodded, folding his hands in front of him and lowering his head, Rin and Yukio moved to do the same, "We are gathered here to say farewell to Mr. Beetle and to commit him into the hands of God." He motioned towards the little grave, "Mr. Beetle our time with you was short, but in the time I knew you I saw how much happiness you gave Rin and I’m sure you did not really mean to bite Yukio. Would anyone like to say a few words?"

Rin sniffed softly, tearing up again, "Mr. Beetle you were the biggest bug I’ve ever seen I’m sorry I squished you."

"I’m sure he knows you didn’t mean it." Shiro reassured, patting Rin's shoulder.

"I’m not mad you tried to bite me." Yukio offered to the stuffed toy in the ground.

"That’s very nice of you, forgiveness is important Yukio." He said, smiling at him before continuing, "Lord our God, you are the source of life. In you we live and move and have our being. Keep us in life and death in your love, and, by your grace, lead us to your kingdom, Through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord." 

"Amen."

"Amen."

"In the Name of God, the merciful Father, we commit the body of Mr. Beetle into your hands" Shiro said, picking up three handfuls of dirt and tossing them gently onto the shoebox. "From dust you came, to dust you shall return. Jesus Christ, our Saviour, shall raise you up on the last day." He signed a cross over his chest, "Lord God, our Father in heaven, Lord God, the Son, and Saviour of the world, Lord God, the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us. At the moment of death, and on the last day, save us, merciful and gracious Lord God. Let us pray," Rin and Yukio lowered their heads again as he continued, "Dear Lord, thank you for letting us know Mr. Beetle and for teaching us this important lesson of gentleness and of forgiveness. Lead us forward in your teachings so that we may move through life with mercy in our hearts. Amen."

"Amen."

"Amen."

They placed the rest of the dirt on the box and then the twins ran off, seemingly okay from the rather traumatic death of Mr. Beetle and his funeral. Shiro chuckled as he let them run to the swing set and playground the monastery kept to help the Sunday school kids blow off some steam. At least the crying was over.

"Very touching service, Father."

Shiro shivered, demonic presence coiling around him and for a split second he worried Satan was peaking through his body, but then he caught a glimpse of green at his peripheral. He turned his head to see Amaimon standing a touch behind him.

"What the hell are you doing here?" He growled as the demon popped a sucker into his mouth with a grin. "I told you not to come here."

"I don’t listen to worms."

Shiro opened his mouth angrily, but then sighed. Of course Amaimon hadn’t actually listened to him, he shouldn’t have been surprised. It wasn’t like Mephisto ever listened to him either. "Just don’t do anything demon-y, please." He stressed the please so much it brought a smile to Amaimon's face.

"Nothing too demon-y, got it." Amaimon conceded, following Shiro to the play yard where they sat down on the cool concrete steps leading back into the monastery. 

Rin was quick to rush up to them, ever curious and attentive, "Hey dad who’s that?" 

"I’m Amaimon." Amaimon said before Shiro could answer, looking completely out of place behind the church, his pupils slivering and Shiro could practically see the shiver run through him.

"A..A.." Rin frowned, the name struggling to tumble out before he smiled and just said, "Mon!"

"No." Amaimon’s nose scrunched, small eyebrows pinching, "That is not m-“

"Yes Rin, this is Mon. He’s a friend of mine." Shiro said, knowing how much it would piss Amaimon off. Demons were rather possessive of their names.

"He looks creepy." Yukio mumbled, having come over to see the commotion, worrying with his hands at the edge of his shirt. 

Rin walked closer to him, reaching out to be lifted into his lap and before Shiro could tell Amaimon not to touch him Amaimon had reached to pick him up. He settled Rin on his legs. Shiro could swear his ears had lengthened, his teeth sharper than before. 

"I think he’s cool!" Rin said reaching up to tug at his elongated ears.

"Rin, Rin be gentle!" Shiro exclaimed as Rin tugged at the point and smiled in an odd grimace as if attempting to mirror the wide shark like grin Amaimon now wore.

"You don’t have to be gentle, Rin. I’m very tough." Amaimon practically purred before baring his fangs fully at Rin and snarling a threat that Shiro was sure would send Rin running and sent Yukio scurrying to his side, but Rin only laughed and bounced up and down. 

He smiled, baring his teeth and growling between giggles. "Grr!" He sounded it out verbally, laughing harder as Amaimon snarled back. He hopped off Amaimon and growled, Amaimon standing to stalk him about the playground as he laughed and hid behind the slide. 

"I’ll get you," Amaimon hissed crouching over just a bit, hands curling to show off his claws, jumping behind the slide.

Rin squealed and ran out, putting space between Amaimon and him before whipping around. He growled loudly, the sound less human than before, his laughter stilling. He lifted his hands to the top of his head, sticking his pointer fingers out to make two distinct horns. He bent over and kicked his feet against the ground, sending the mulch scattering. "I’m a boar! I’ll get you!"

Amaimon only growled back as Rin launched himself forward with a small war cry, tackling Amaimon to the ground.

Amaimon fell with a great scream, his over done acting making Rin howl with laughter as he beat his little fists against Amaimon’s chest. "You killed me! Oooh! You killed me, I’m defeated, I’m bested! You are too strong!"

"I killed you! I killed you!" Rin exclaimed, bouncing up and down again, "Dad look! Look! I killed him!"

Shiro didn’t respond, his eyes wide in terror, their game sending ice down his spine.

_ 'One day he'll kill for real' _

Satan curled around his mind and this time Shiro knew it wasn’t Amaimon or Mephisto or some other demon hiding behind him.  _ 'Get out.'  _ He thought, closing his eyes and trying to will Satan away. At his side Yukio could sense his change in demeanor, tensing beside him, hands curling around his arm.  _ 'GET OUT.' _

_ 'One day he'll laugh like that over a pile of corpses, glut himself on their flesh!' _

_ 'I said! Get! Out!' _

Satan laughed,  _ 'He'll toy with them first. I can see it in his eyes. He'll drag it out, delight in their fear.' _

Flickers of Rin tearing into someone filled his mind, memories of his birth, the violent, brutal deaths and premonitions of the future. He could smell the blood on the walls, the bodies torn apart, smeared and shattered. Fear gripped him as he saw what could be and he wasn’t sure if it was his overactive imagination or Satan himself willing the visions to life, but he knew he was scared. He knew the sight of gore running from Rin's claws, the sound of his fangs crunching through bone, terrified him. Those images brought him back to the blue night, to the memories of the funerals and weeks of learning someone else had died, someone else had disappeared forever. 

Would Rin ever wreak that havoc again? Ever kill as many as Satan had?

_ 'H E W I L L.' _

_ 'No! Not him! He won’t!'  _ Shiro shook away the thoughts, forcing himself to focus and remember his training, covering up the weaknesses in his heart. He thought of Rin crying over Mr. Beetle, how he’d been so upset he’d hurt the bug. He thought of how he would stroke Yukio’s hair when he was sick, and shared his chicken nuggets with the neighbor’s dogs. He cried when he had nightmares. He stumbled over his prayers and his face would go red with embarrassment when he did. He believed in Santa wholeheartedly and could be threatened with the elf of the shelf to do his chores.  _ ‘Rin is a good kid and he’s my son. ' _ His thoughts were calmer now, steady and sure.  _ 'I love him.' _

Satan scoffed in his ears,  _ 'Love doesn’t exist, especially not for demons.' _

_ 'I don’t believe that anymore.' _ The thought pushed from his mind before he had even felt it form. The pieces of the puzzle that was Samael's mind fitting neatly together. After the night before there was no more suspecting Mephisto could love, only the knowledge that he did and as soon as the thought burst into reality Satan was gone, shoved away not by force, but by truth.

Demons could love. Rin could love and as long as that was true he’d be fine. Perhaps that would be true for Mephisto and Amaimon too, just as soon as they realized it. 

"You good?" 

Shiro was wrenched back into reality by Amaimon blocking out the sun in front of him, looking down into his eyes. Rin swung excited from his arms, still smiling and laughing. "Yeah...yeah I’m good, I’m fine." He rubbed Yukio's back, knowing the younger twin got stressed whenever Satan spoke to him. He didn’t know about Satan or that Shiro could hear him, but he could sense the dread that would pour off Shiro when it happened. It worried him. "Hey Rin, Yukio, why don’t you swing? I have to talk to Mon now. Rin, thank him for playing with you."

Rin let go of Amaimon’s arm and growled at him again before saying a hasty thank you and taking Yukio’s hand, pulling him over the swings and promising to teach him how to jump off while the seat was up in the air.

"You smell like Father." Amaimon said without any more hesitation, sitting on the concrete step beside him. "What happened?"

"Got possessed by him once, now he kind of pops in from time to time."

"You got possessed by father and lived?" Amaimon asked, an actual edge of awe in his typically even voice.

"Sort of. I slit my throat, but Sheimihaza was near me so I regenerated fast enough to come back to life, especially since I’m a clone."

"You're an interesting worm."

Shiro looked over at him, his eyes widening just slightly, "Wow was that an actual complement?" Amaimon huffed his acknowledgment, but didn’t grant him a response. Still, it brought a soft smile to his face, "Even though I told you not to come, it was nice seeing Rin excited at least until Satan popped in and I do have something to talk to you about." 

"Hm?" Amaimon looked away from the twins to focus on him, "What would that be?"

Shiro fiddled with his hands just a touch, squeezing his fingers for a brief moment before pushing his nerves aside. If he could fight off Satan he could tell Amaimon about the feelings Mephisto felt for him. After all, it wasn’t as if he were confessing anything, merely pointing something out, "Demons don’t love, right?"

Amaimon's face pulled up in an expression of disgust that Shiro wasn’t sure if he should take seriously or not, "No of course not, that’s a human delusion."

"So you don’t love Samael?"

Amaimon took a second longer to answer this time, "No. Samael and I don’t have such a flimsy connection, we’ve claimed one another."

Shiro nodded, he knew a bit about claims from his exorcist training, though just enough to know that if you killed a demon and it had a claim the second would grow stronger after the first's death. It was important to always consider that possibility on missions. A demon could be lurking out of sight and grow stronger just as you thought you had won the fight. It was a nasty trick. "You've bound your aspects."

"Yes, that is far stronger than your idea of love."

"And if you die he gets your power? How does that even work for demon kings?"

"If I were to die Samael would become the king of earth, rule both our domains." Amaimon explained, face unreadable, words coming out uniform and rehearsed. 

"He’s already had a claim die, hasn’t he. A demon claim."

Amaimon's expression shifted to one of surprise for just a split second, his pupils widening for a moment before shrinking down to pinpoint slivers. When he spoke his voice came out slow and venomous, "Yes."

"A demon king, that’s why he already rules two domains, time and space."

"It was a long time ago, we don’t talk about it anymore." Amaimon hissed through his teeth, growing more agitated by the second. 

"Who were they, how did they die?" Killing a demon king was unheard of, an impossible task. Who could have completed such an undertaking?

Amaimon growled lowly, "What part of we don’t talk about it don’t you understand?" He wanted to move on from the topic, wanted to push away those memories, but Shiro only opened his mouth to ask another question. He cut him off quickly, seeing it would be easier to just explain, "His name was Abduxuel, Samael's twin, king of space and second in our hierarchy. He was cursed by someone, we do not know who, and suffered a slow death. Do not tell Samael I told you, as I said we do not talk about it any more. Happy?"

Not really, but it did open Shiro's eyes to some of Samael's behaviors and why he was so guarded. A loss like that, from an unknown source, striking so suddenly but dragging itself out over who knew how long, leaving the demon watching helplessly as his claim died, it couldn’t have been easy. It must have torn him apart. "But he didn’t love Abduxuel and he doesn't love you." 

"No, he doesn’t."

"Amaimon, when Samael possessed me I could feel his feelings, see his thoughts." Shiro said, scooting closer and trying to lead him to the conclusion.

"Yes, that’s how it works."

Shiro sighed, he had hoped Amaimon would put the pieces together. Something about so bluntly telling him Samael's feelings felt odd, but of course Amaimon would need it spelled out. "Amaimon, he loves you. I felt it. I saw it."

Amaimon stood suddenly, pulling away from him and his words, shaking his head. It was probably the most emotional response he’d ever seen Amaimon give. "You didn’t."

"I’m a human I know what it feels like, I’ve loved before. Samael feels that for you."

"You humans can’t agree on what love is and what it feels like because it isn’t real so no, you did not feel it." He turned to walk away, but Shiro stood and grabbed him by his wrist. Amaimon whipped back around, turning his hand around in Shiro's grasp to press his claws into the underside of his arm, not breaking the skin. "You felt how we obsess, how demons desire possessions. You felt greed, that's all."

"I didn’t." Shiro pressed, his fingers tightening on Amaimon's skin despite the threat. "When I was possessed by Satan I felt the greed he had for Yuri. I know what that obsession feels like, Amaimon. This wasn’t it and every time I tried to look deeper into Samael's mind he pushed me away. He knows those feelings are there, he knows and he won’t admit it not even to himself."

Amaimon didn’t humor his hold this time, yanking his hand away so hard it made Shiro stumble forward. He grabbed him by the front of his shirt, snarling in his face. "You don’t know anything. You don't know about me or about Samael and you certainly don’t know anything about our relationship." He pushed Shiro away, stalking off towards the swings, "I’m gonna go play with Rin. He doesn’t ask stupid questions."

"He’s a toddler!" 

Amaimon flipped him off over his shoulder, before sitting down in the mulch, letting Rin show him a cool rock he’d found. 

Shiro frowned, watching them for a few moments and wondering why Amaimon was so adamant about demons not loving. Had he been impacted by Abduxuel's death as he suspected Samael had, or was it something else entirely? Then again when he’d been younger he’d been the same way, distrustful and believing that love was fake or at least far, far beyond his grasp. He was a clone, raised in a lab and tested on throughout his life, he was the dog of the order. Love, he’d thought, wasn’t for him, but Yuri and the twins had taught him otherwise. 

He was thankful for that.

* * *

Rin stood behind the corner of the monastery. Mephisto had brought them back to his childhood home after he’d spent the night alone in the time king's penthouse. The bed had been too big and the sheets had been too cold. He’d longer for the touches of his two demons, wanting to tangle his tail with their own ones. 

Being alone didn’t feel right anymore.

Despite this truth Mephisto had dropped him off behind the church, telling Rin that this was his memory to watch, no one else’s. He’d left with a snap after his mysterious words as Rin was made to watch a memory he couldn’t even conjure to his mind. 

He couldn’t remember ever meeting Amaimon before the exwire camping trip. He knew that remembering things from his early childhood was difficult, but not only had he not remembered Amaimon no one had told him they’d met. Mephisto had even gone so far as to formally introduce them, sort of, with no mention of the time they’d spent together when he was young. He’d learned that Amaimon hadn’t meant to hurt him during their fights, or kill him. He was playing and now Rin realized not only was that true, but he’d also wanted to play with a friend he hadn’t seen in a while. 

He hadn’t known any better then, why had no one told him? Why hadn’t Mephisto said something? Hell, why hadn’t Amaimon said something?

Rin watched his younger self laugh happily, jumping on Amaimon as the earth king acted out an over dramatic death. He smiled despite the hurt welling in him. He loved Amaimon, he knew he did and it made his chest ache to think there was so much about him he didn’t know. There was so much about his own life, about Mephisto's life, and about Shiro's life that he didn’t know and maybe never would, not fully anyway. 

He listened closely as Amaimon came to speak privately with Shiro and felt those questions inside him grow and grow as he began to see just how much he was missing. He could hardly hold back a gasp as the biggest missing chunk in his information revealed itself. 

Samael had once had a twin.

A twin who had died. 

His eyes had rushed to find Yukio on the playground, worry rising in him at just the thought of losing his twin. He’d been scared of such a thing for so, so long. He was still scared. Terrified. And all this time Samael had lived through that, lived the event that kept Rin up at night, that tore his heart to shreds and sent panic spiraling through him. He was working so hard to keep Yukio alive, he couldn’t stand the thought of losing him. Visions of his broken body littered his dreams, thoughts of his own demon self ripping into him, consuming him completely. Nightmares of Satan taking him entirely, forcing them to fight until one of them died were so common he almost always expected them when he closed his eyes. 

Yukio had been with him from the beginning, from before he could even remember and Samael's twin must have been the same but when faced with that fight to keep his twin alive, the fight Rin himself struggled with, he had failed. 

Samael had lost that fight. 

And not just for his twin, but for his claim. 

He couldn’t even direct his anger towards anyone, they didn’t know who was responsible for Abduxuel's death. Rin tried to imagine what that would be like, for Yukio to be murdered in cold blood and his killer to get away. He would tear down the entire city, the entire world if such a thing happened. How had Samael felt? How did he still feel?

Rin couldn’t comprehend it.

The conversation moved on as his head spun, but he forced himself to focus again. He could follow his spiraling thoughts later, probably would whether he wanted to or not. For now he needed to pay as much attention as possible. 

He was glad he did, Shiro dropping yet another bomb on his head. 

Samael could love. Shiro felt it during his possession and he had a clear basis with which to understand the difference between demonic possessiveness and what humans understood as love. Of course he would have such insights, Rin suddenly understanding why Samael had bothered to show him so much build up. Shiro's discoveries unfolded before him as Samael told Rin what he couldn’t with words because as Shiro said, he couldn’t even admit the truth to himself, not outwardly at least.

As Amaimon spoke he could hear the stiffness in his voice, the strain. He was confused and angry and Rin felt a pang of pain shoot through him as he realized how much Amaimon must have loved Samael. How much did he have to suppress those feelings? Did he even understand them or had the claim that demons couldn’t love sunk so far into him that he believed them wholeheartedly? Rin couldn’t believe that, not with the strain in his voice, not with the way he turned to leave. 

Just like with Samael the words wouldn’t come to Amaimon, trapping him in the lie that demons could never hope to love. 

It saddened him and as he watched Shiro sit and watch Amaimon play with his younger self and Yukio he wondered if it saddened his father too. 

* * *

Shiro eventually stood from the stair he sat on, going inside to make some lunch the boys could eat before taking their afternoon nap. At least Amaimon was wearing them out, they wouldn’t be too fussy when he laid them down

As he cooked up some rice with a bit of curry that wasn’t too spicy for Rin and Yukio his friend Misumi popped his head into the doorway. Shiro knew he was lucky to have him, Maruta, and Izumi working at the monastery with him. He didn’t know if he could ever repay them for that. "Um, Shiro is that, Amaimon? As in Amaimon, Amaimon, the demon king of earth?"

Shiro nodded, glancing out the kitchen window and into the back yard. It looked as if Yukio was being held hostage at the top of the slide by Amaimon, Rin brandishing a stick in order to rescue his brother from the terrible monster who had stolen him. "Yeah, he’s staying with Sir. Pheles right now. The order isn’t to know about it. He wanted to come visit his new siblings."

"Shiro isn't that...." Misumi came closer to him, wringing his hands nervously, "Isn't that dangerous."

"Nah." Shiro waves his hand, "He’s actually very well behaved and he knows Sir. Pheles would kill him if he did anything anyway. He’s just helping them burn off some energy before their nap."

The look in Misumi's eyes said he didn’t believe them and if Shiro were being honest with himself he couldn’t blame him. Demon kings were known for their cruelty, for the destruction and death they could cause. Even Mephisto, as seemingly docile as he was, had still killed hundreds and trapped him and so many others in his hidden laboratories, forcing them like sheep to the slaughter of demonic possession. 

Those sins could not be forgotten, but even still he was learning more about Mephisto and Amaimon too. He was learning they were more dynamic than he’d seen or been taught and he got the sense that he was starting to finally see what Yuri had before she'd died, see that demon's lives weren’t so different than their own. 

Humans too committed murders. They sparked wars, carried out genocide, murdered and tortured for fun or for personal gain. The ruined lives every single day, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t regret, couldn’t change, couldn’t love. 

And it didn’t mean Shiro distrusted them all. It didn’t mean he thought no one could better themselves or be sorry.

Change for a demon king would probably stretch out for centuries, especially if he had gotten to know Mephisto as well as he thought he had, but that didn’t mean it was impossible. Just slow. 

"Don’t worry about it." He said, patting Misumi on the back, "Why don’t you gather up Maruta and Izumi to reset the wards while I put the boys down for their naps, it's gotten a bit old and could use some strengthening." Especially since Amaimon had slipped through. Shiro shivered at the thought of someone or something less well intentioned slinking into the monastery.

"Okay, just stay alert." Misumi said, still nervous but going to find the others to start working. 

It wasn’t much longer before lunch was done and Shiro called the twins over, Amaimon following behind with his hands shoved into his pockets. 

Rin and Yukio looked exhausted, Yukio’s eyes already closing and opening in a slow, drowsy pattern. Rin yawned as he sat at the table, taking his rice and curry. Amaimon stood in the doorway until Shiro called him over, handing him a plate. He wasn’t about to let Amaimon leave without a meal after he’d all but guaranteed a smooth nap time. 

It was a nice meal time, the boys trying not to drift off as Amaimon ate every last scrap of food before bidding them goodbye. Shiro wanted to do something, to give him a warmer farewell since he wasn’t sure when he’d see him again, but he knew it was better not to. 

As the earth king left he scooped the boys into his arms, Rin and Yukio curling up on his shoulders. "Dad?" Rin spoke softly, arms gripping around his neck. "Will we see Mon again?"

"I don’t know, love." He answered honestly, unsure of if Amaimon would come around again and if it was even a good idea for him too. 

"He was fun though." 

"He is." He laid Rin and Yukio down on their beds, Yukio already drifting off as he dragged his blanket and his favorite stuffed goldfish towards him. Rin was quick to follow suit, Shiro handing him his own stuffed toy, a little cat, and covering him up. He leaned down and kissed both their foreheads, saying a soft goodbye before going to relax in the kitchen. Before he could though Izumi called him to the front of the monastery. 

"There’s someone in the confessional booth for you, not sure who, 

"Probably one of the old ladies from down the street, everyone else is at school or work this time of day." Shiro said as Izumi went to pick at the food in the fridge.

"The barrier is almost repaired, shouldn’t take much longer." He said, opening a soda and picking up two more for the others who were still working. 

"That’s good, I'll come out and help finish up once I’m done with the old lady. She’s probably just going to say she cheated at bridge or something." Shiro said before leaving Izumi in the kitchen as he donned his typical priest air. Appearances were important after all.

He stepped into the booth, sliding the little screen window between him and the other person open. "My child."

"Bless me father for I have sinned, it has been many, many years since my last confession."

The familiar voice coiled around him and his eyes widened, trying to peer through the screen and practically growling at the outline of who he saw. "Amaimon I thought you left!"

He could practically hear the smile on Amaimon's lips as he responded, "Oh father, I have been meditating heavily on my sins."

Shiro stood, annoyance making his eyelid twitch, "Get out of there, this place is for parishioners."

Amaimon laughed softly, the sound darker than his usual mischievous lilt, disappearing in a cloud of smoke only to reappear in front of Shiro, pushing him down onto the bench. "Fine, I’m out of there and in here instead."

"That’s not what I meant." Shiro protested, but Amaimon was already dropping to his knees in front of him. 

"But I need to tell you my sins, father." He lifted his hands, spreading Shiro’s legs and running a warm palm over his clothed length. Shiro sucked in a breath of air, the sound making Amaimon purr, "They are many and great, for instance I trespassed on holy ground today even though I had express commands from the priest not to."

Shiro shivered, looking down at Amaimon with growing desire. If he were honest with himself he’d pictured Mephisto in this exact same position dozens of times and Amaimon's eyes, glowing hungry in the dark filled him with heat. "Amaimon if I-"

The demon cut him off, speaking once more his voice smooth and low as his claws unzipped his pants at an agonizingly slow speed, "I have been having lustful thoughts for the very same priest, I can’t get the images of him bent over, taking my cock, out of my head.

A groan passed Shiro's lips, his hand lowering to thread his fingers through Amaimon's hair, "These are quite troubling sins." He managed, slipping into the play as Amaimon freed his now stiff length from his pants. Fuck if anyone heard them he’d die of embarrassment and just the thought of that made his dick jump. "D-Do you know the Act of Contrition?"

Amaimon grinned, his smile filled with razor sharp teeth that made Shiro's head spin as he thought of them being near him. He licked a slow strip up the underside of his length, tracing the vein there. "Of course I do, father. He breathed, warm breath heady over Shiro's sensitive skin. 

"Repeat it." He instructed, knowing what such a thing would do to the demon before him, but understanding now that Amaimon knew full well what he was getting into. 

"Yes, father." He stroked Shiro deliberately, his palm a warm slide over his length as he began. "O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended T-Thee," Amaimon took a deep breath as the prayer began to take effect, his eye brows pinching a bit as he continued "and I detest my sins most s-sincerely because... t-they displease Thee," smoke started to rise from his body, coiling in the crowded air of the confessional box. 

"You aren’t done." Shiro all but growled as Amaimon took too long to continue, canting his hips upwards to remind Amaimon to stroke him. 

"My G-God, Who art so deserving of all my l-love for Thy infinite goodness and....most amiable perfections: and I firmly pur-purpose by Thy holy grace never more to offend Thee." He was breathing hard, his hand much hotter as it stroked Shiro's length. Even in the dark Shiro could see the sweat glinting under his bangs.

He didn’t give him a break though, yanking him forward by his hair and down onto his cock, moaning at the heat. He held Amaimon down and the demon let him despite the both of them knowing that Shiro had no real power. "Fuck, Amaimon." He panted, loving the way Amaimon just let him fuck his face, shoving himself as far down his throat as he wanted as Amaimon's long tongue wound it’s way around his dick. He let his head fall back against the wood of the booth, biting his lip to hold back his moans as Amaimon let him have his fill until he pulled off suddenly, the gold of his eyes brighter than it had been before as he spoke.

"I'm going to claim you." 

Not would you like me to claim you, simply, I am.

The thought short circuited Shiro's mind for a moment until the points of Amaimon’s claws settled into thighs, "I have told you my sins, father. What is your recommendation?" He had fallen back into his act, grinning up at him as he waited for Shiro to shake off the shock of his declaration. 

"Three...three Hail Marys' for your act of trespassing and three more for your lusts along with two Our Father’s." He managed, trying not to stare into Amaimon's hypnotic gaze. 

"I apologize, father, I do not have a rosary with which to pray on," His words were teasing and light, "I can’t pray if my mouth is full anyway."

Shiro tugged Amaimon up roughly by his tie, shoving him into the side of the booth and turning him around, hearing the purr Amaimon gave as he squeezed his ass greedily, "I’ll just free up that mouth of yours." He said, quickly discarding Amaimon’s belt and tugging away his clothes, "And of course, here’s your rosary~" he pulled the necklace from his pocket winding it around Amaimon’s neck, it seared across the skin, making Amaimon hiss as Shiro secured it, tugging him roughly by the cord. He looked lovely with a leash of his own. "Begin."

Amaimon sucked in a sharp breath, the rosary pressing red welts into his skin slowly, "Hail Mary, Full of Grace, The Lord is with thee." The rosary hummed with energy, the irritation around Amaimon’s neck growing as Shiro tugged it tight, making Amaimon’s breathing strain and hiss, "B-Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, J-Jesus. Holy...Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of death." Amaimon’s teeth clenched and Shiro decided he quite liked watching the demon exorcise himself. 

He lined his cock up against Amaimon’s entrance, spitting into the hand that wasn’t busy bringing Amaimon to heel. The demon didn’t deserve to be properly stretched. The damned masochist probably liked it better that way anyway. "Continue." He commanded as he pressed his way inside slowly, his own teeth gritting at the effort and Amaimon's tightness. As he forced their hips flush Amaimon continued his prayers and he could see the skin around Amaimon’s neck eating away, blood dripping onto his collar in a dark splash of color. 

Shiro groaned lowly, hand settling on his hip as he leaned over Amaimon, breathing in his now familiar scent, the coiling smell of his burning skin and blood making the heat in his gut twist further. He wondered if Mephisto's sadism was starting to influence his bedroom preferences because at this moment he couldn’t imagine anything hotter than watching Amaimon burn as he chanted and took his cock. He began to thrust, pulling out until just the head of his length was inside before shoving back into him, making Amaimon cry out. 

The earth king's tail slipped from his hips, scales glinting in the dark. Shiro didn’t let the movement go unnoticed or unpunished, hand reaching out to grab the appendage tight and tug. 

Amaimon screamed, the sound shocking even Shiro as he seemed to suddenly remember their rather compromising positions. "Shut up and say your prayers." He snarled, pulling Amaimon’s tail harder than before. Amaimon's teeth dug into his lip with a muffled cry, fangs piercing through his skin, blood dripping down his chin. By now his eyes were starting to well with blood, fluttering closed with pain even as he rocked his ass back greedily onto his cock. 

His Hail Mary's steadily completely he refocused and opened his mouth, Shiro allowed him to take his time with this one, despite his demands, "Our F-Father, Who art in... in heaven, hallowed be Thy name," Shiro thrust in earnest as he spoke, releasing his tight hold on Amaimon's tail to snake his hand his front, wrapping his finger around his length. He was hard in his hands, precum leaking heavily down his shaft, easing Shiro's strokes. Amaimon moaned, lifting his now freed tail to wrap around Shiro's waist, his voice renewed as he spoke, "Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."

Shiro was close now, the sound of their bodies meeting pounding out the rhythms to which Amaimon spoke, the smell of them clouded with the burn of exorcism. "Again," He panted, tugging the rosary tight as his finger slid over Amaimon's head, more precum dribbling at his actions.

"Y-Yes, father." Amaimon groaned before repeating his last prayer, bucking into Shiro’s hand in a desperate glide. 

"Such a good boy," Shiro purred as the last prayer ended, the smell of smoke choking the air to the point where he wondered why no one had noticed yet, but he didn’t care. Not as the heat continued to coil inside him and he felt his end in sight. 

Amaimon turned his head, their eyes meeting in a heavy moment, "I’m going to claim you now, father."

"H-How," Shiro asked, his rhythms stuttering even as he ached to cum deep inside Amaimon, his finish which had been so close stalled if even for a second. 

Amaimon's tail shifted to coil around his neck, squeezing him in an echo of his leash before tugging him close until his head rested on his shoulder, the earth king pressing the side oh his head against Shiro's in a an attempted nuzzle, "Just fuck me, Shiro. I’ll take care of the rest."

Shiro grinned, now that he could do. He yanked the rosary, shredding the scabs that had begun to form once his prayers had finished, "That's father to you."

Amaimon moaned, "Yes, father." Shiro slammed into him hard, fucking him fast and deep against the wall as Amaimon groan, his head falling back to press against Shiro’s shoulders until he managed to speak clearly again, "Your fingers, father."

"Mm? What about them?" Shiro teased, nipping at Amaimon's neck, teeth tugging at the rosary beads, the taste of Amaimon's blood heady on his tongue.

"I need to bite you, father."

Shiro didn’t know what that had to do with the claiming, but he did know the fever that would follow, shivering at the thought. He didn’t hesitate though, desire winding inside him along with a deep curiosity about what it meant to be claimed by a demon. He let go of the rosary, Amaimon sucking in a sharp breath as the pressure around his neck was released. Shiro lifted his hand, pressing his fingers against Amaimon’s lips. 

The earth king opened for him, curling his tongue around his fingers, sucking him in deep. The sight of it made Shiro pant, pushing his fingers further inside as he screwed him against the wall, tugging at his face until his back arched, their hips slamming together. 

Amaimon’s power swelled in the small space, flared and cocooned around them, an unwieldy pressure that Shiro found himself only emboldened by. Amaimon wasn’t threatening him, anything but as he tightened lustfully around his length. No, he was drawing him in, moaning as he thrust his wet dick against Shiro's hand until he could hardly stand it and then, amongst the fire and heat he bit down.

The pain sparked across his senses, warm wetness splashed against the confessional wall in a slick white slide and Shiro's pace broke as he finished with a with a cry.

And then it was overwhelming.

The circle of Amaimon’s power that had been expanding, the growing bubble of pressure and all encompassing gravity flexed, shuddered then shrank in an instant. Shiro felt as if his chest was being crushed. 

Like a star exploding outwards only to collapse in with its own power the energy surged, crowded in on itself then burst out in a rush of movement. 

From the darkness, existence. The world clawing its way into reality, the birth of all things and a bold defiance of the cold of space it has come from. A rarity. A near impossibility. 

Life.

Eons stretched before him. The needlessness, yet stubborn persistence of his life coiled around him. Of all the things that could have happened, of all the possible outcomes here he was.

Alive. 

Atoms from nothing arranged themselves impossibly into rocks around a burning star. Water carried from parsecs away collided with a world still forming, the earth cooled and in the rivers, lakes, and seas he began. 

A struggle of movement, survival and death. The lineage of all that had come before him and all that would come after. Change, progress, setbacks, instincts and desires, all of it filled him, was him in his entirety. 

The world teemed with life; despite it all the trees grew, the oceans swelled with life. 

Amaimon was, despite everything. 

He’d tried to understand how a being could be a concept, how an entity could embody an idea and now he had his answer.

Amaimon simply was. 

Amaimon himself was the defiance of life. The impossibility of it and the inevitably of death. He was in a single breath all of history, every struggle, every triumph. He was the promise of continuance, the knowledge that death came for all, but the reassurance that life as a whole always found its way. 

He was the seasons, the water after a drought and burning fires of destruction. He was chance and change and a story far older than Shiro could have ever known otherwise. 

The surge of power settled into quieter knowledge, softer unveilings. Amaimon was the first whispers of spring after a long, long winter. He was the seeds opening to bloom and the birds nesting high above. A glittering warmth settled deep in Shiro's bones as Amaimon revealed to him a simple truth.

Shiro himself was an impossibility, each of his breaths eons in the making. The sun's light shone on him, warmed his cheeks even though every odd had been stacked against the earth, against life. 

He could not remember when he had not existed and he would neither feel or remember death. He was something incredible, a living being in the universe. And that, that was enough.

Even that was a feat worthy of admiration. Even that was a triumph against fate.

Amaimon bound the knowledge within him, locked it deep in his chest. A chain stronger than any steel stretching between him until slowly the feeling faded and his mind returned to the small confession booth.

He found his voice, his words a choked whisper, "Amaimon, was that..."

"Yes," the earth king spoke definitively, "That was me."

The booth felt all at once far too tiny and intimate, Shiro grasping the size of who he shared the space with. He looked down at where their bodies were connected, his fingers flexing around Amaimon's softening length.

He had just fucked the concept of the earth itself. 

He had just...just... he began to tremble, eyes wide as he scrambled to pull out, but before he could one of Amaimon’s hands reached out and grabbed his leg, fingers tightening in the fabric, pulling him back and holding him steady, "Don't overthink it." He closed his eyes, leaning against the wood, "Stay inside, just for a little while."

Shiro nodded, he wanted to overthink it, the knowledge running rampant in his mind, but he followed Amaimon’s example of resting. He laid his head against Amaimon’s shoulder, the earth king’s slim tail slipped from his neck to caress his cheeks in a possessive slide. 

They stayed that way for a few minutes, hearts calming as their breathing slowed. Tentatively Shiro licked his tongue across the side of Amaimon’s neck, attempting to mirror the behaviors he’d seen Amaimon and Mephisto do to each other and to him. Amaimon accepted, leaning his head back and offering his throat. Shiro nipped at as much of it as he could reach, marking Amaimon in his own way if only for a little while. Amaimon purred in response, the sound a soothing rumble. 

Slowly, once the afterglow had finally faded Amaimon let him pull away. They fixed their clothing, Amaimon snapping them and the walls clean before turning around and dragging Shiro down into a deep kiss. "Am I absolved of my sins now, father~"

"Mm far from it. I think you’ll have to come here quite often."

"I come over every now and then, Samael likes it in here." He snickered, the purr in his chest growing as he watched Shiro fume. 

"You what!"

Amaimon smoothed the front of Shiro’s shirt, "Samael and I play in here~"

"In my house! Where my kids live!"

"Mhm~" Amaimon said with a teasing laugh, "You’ll have to join us sometime." He smiled and before Shiro could respond he kissed him again, this time far, far deeper than the last, murmuring before disappearing in a cloud of smoke, "Until next time, Shiro."

Shiro was left flabbergasted and stunned as he found himself alone, but he didn’t have much time to get himself together, someone entering the other side of the booth. He groaned inwardly, this time his guest really was an old lady from down the street. The middle window clicked open and Shiro spoke, "My child."

* * *

Amaimon reappeared in front of the Faust mansion, not even caring to hide his tail as it swung languidly behind him. Shiro's scent coiled around him as he sauntered up to Samael's office. The elder demon could never ignore him when he had someone else’s scent on him, his possessive nature mixing with his instincts. Amaimon looked forward to being pinned down, Samael reasserting his claim.

Green eyes lifted to him the moment he entered the office, Samael wasting no time in flexing his power through the room. It made Amaimon’s knees lock even as he purred.

Samael was behind him in an instant, arms wrapping around him, nosing at his hair to scent him out. "You disobeyed me."

"Father's offspring are fun, even though they are worm-like because of your plans."

Fangs dug into his shoulder, piercing through the fabric. Amaimon purred at the sensation. "Shiro was fun too." Samael's hand slid up to his throat, gently coaxing his head back. Amaimon let it fall easily, surrendering as their claims glowed bright in the back of his mind. He smiled as he thought about his newest claim, boasting his satisfaction, "And he looks lovely with my claim~"

The fingers around his throat tightened, Amaimon wagging at the sensation of claws pressing to his skin, already imagining them digging in. Samael didn’t make him wait long, claws shredding through the skin and deep into his throat. Amaimon’s eyes widened, that had been a bit deeper than he’d expected, especially for the start of their play. But, if that was what Samael wanted he’d certainly play along, it’d been a bit since they’d indulged in their darker demonic instincts. 

Then Samael's power grew suffocating, his free hand snapped in the air between them and Amaimon spiraled through darkness. Gravity ceased to exist, his body twisting through the void as his instincts desperately tried and failed to right himself. He crumpled to the ground, his host giving way beneath him from the height, arms and legs shattering. He screamed, gritting his teeth, the blood from where Samael's claws had pierced him swimming behind his fangs. 

Samael's presence was heavy and demanding his form materializing from the shadows. He snarled, the sound far from playful and sending ice down his spine, the frost creeping across his skin and carrying dread with it. "Samael?" He asked, forcing himself not to tremble. 

The time king’s steps fell like a metronome towards him, Amaimon's tail curled around him, all wagging forgotten. "You C L A I M E D him." Samael's hiss was sibilant, bringing with it a black hole of terror between Amaimon’s ribs, his heart skipping. 

"I thought... I thought..."

"You assumed."

Yes he’d assumed of course he’d assumed. They had all been playing together for a little while. Samael and Shiro got along well, Shiro was fun and enjoyed their company. Amaimon himself found the man quite amusing, entertained by his willingness to fight back and his weakness for harrowing situations. The three of them had warmed each other for a few nights, more than enough for a claim by demonic standards. "Samael I!" 

Samael's hand wrapped around his face, squeezing hard enough to shatter his jaw, caving it inward. He swallowed forcefully on instinct, teeth scraping his already ragged throat as he accidentally ingested them, "I'll hear no more from you. No more assumptions. No more going behind my back and claiming what is mine!"

_ 'No.' _ Amaimon thought as pain flared through him,  _ 'What is ours.' _ They were mated, their claim bond fulfilled between them. Amaimon was Samael's in his entirety and Samael was supposed to be his. Everything they had was theirs together. Or it was supposed to be. Amaimon’s ears fell, his eyes watered. Even when they were supposed to be on equal ground they weren’t. Samael was far stronger than him, his place in their hierarchy far higher than he could ever hope to be. 

Having a claim bond with such a strong demon had once warmed him from his horns to his feet, of all the other kings Samael had chosen him after Abduxuel’s death. That was something to be proud of. 

Now though...at times like these...when Samael's anger sent him crashing across the floor, their claim felt one sided. 

He curled in on himself. Samael should have been happy he’d accepted the human he’d brought into the mansion, into their territory, their shared nest. He should have been beside himself at how well they got along, should have congratulated himself for being a good other half. But, here he was acting as if he had any territory Amaimon was not able to step on.

That’s not how it was supposed to work. 

Amaimon closed his eyes, arching his neck back to submit fully, to say he was sorry, but Samael only picked him up and pinned him to a shadow that had formed itself upon his silent command into a wall. 

When Shiro spoke of love, was this what he meant?

Amaimon did not know.

"It’s not going to be that easy." Samael growled, low and in his ear as his free hand ripped forward to tear his stomach open, blood and gore spilling down his front and he knew, he knew it wouldn’t just be as easy as saying sorry but he hadn’t known what else to do. 

He never knew what to do when Samael was like this and the times when he lost himself to anger and the jealousy that burned deep in his emerald eyes were growing more and more frequent and Amaimon did not know why.

Why...why didn’t he make Samael happy?

He hung his head, taking Samael's punishment quietly. It was all he could do anymore. It would be over eventually and Samael would take him into his arms and run his clawed fingers through his hair. He would scratch just the way he knew Amaimon liked it and tangle their tails together. He’d reassert their claims softly, kiss him deeply and purr as Amaimon fell asleep against his chest.

It would be good again. It would be warm again.

He just had to wait a little while was all.

Samael took his time, ate the flesh he ripped from his body, waited until Amaimon healed and then ate more. He gorged himself on muscles, organs, and violence and when he was full he strung Amaimon up on spears, leaving him to hang limp in the void.

"You will never see Shiro again." He commanded, voice stern as he licked his lips of the last of Amaimon’s blood.

Amaimon nodded, the pain of feeling a claim fade already hurting his chest. He knew Shiro would feel their separation too, but he couldn’t protest. Not if he wanted it to be good again.

Hopefully it would not be too long this time.

  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooi pushed this chapter out faster than expected. Originally I was like, I’m not gonna make Mephisto that mean and then at 3 am I made him that mean so blame my sleep deprived brain because he is in fact being a major jackass sorry. 
> 
> Also I’m in love with young Rin and yukio, especially after the latest manga chapter. I just had to have Amaimon interact with them it was too cute and I felt inspired. I’d love to do shorts with kid shenanigans. 
> 
> Oof imagine Mephisto baby sitting that’s be pure torture for him and he kinda deserves it after hurting Amaimon. T^T
> 
> Also! I have always wanted to write a confession booth sex scene! I hope y’all liked it it was a lot of fun to write and I drowned thebeingofeverything in snippets of it. 
> 
> Also, also as I said in tne summary I’m not catholic so sorry again if I jacked that up. I did ask my friend who is Catholic what goes down and I may have uh....forgotten to mention it was for a sex scene lol. At least Amaimon and Shiro got to have some fun. 
> 
> Anyway! Hope y’all liked and I hope everyone is staying safe and happy and healthy!


	7. A weaver's work

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mephisto continues to show Rin more of the past, revealing increasesingly violent truths, but Rin is starting to wonder what he's really looking at.

"It hurt." Amaimon said, hands wrapping around a warm tea cup. It was so fragile in his hands, delicate enough to be shattered at the smallest misstep, "It always hurts."

Two hands reached across the table, though only one stretched far enough to cover his fingers with their own, "Amaimon that’s..." Sheimi did not know how to put it. She did not know much about demons beyond what she learned in cram school and what Rin told her. She knew that violence among them was normal, even when they called each other’s allies. Rin had come to visit her with deep, still healing wounds before, laughing the damage off. He acted like he enjoyed it, cherished the fights and ability to wield his power. Sheimi did not know where play became fighting for demons, she did not know how far Sir. Pheles had gone over the line, but from the sound in Amaimon's voice, the strain of pain and stress, he had crossed it. 

"It’s bullshit, is what it is," Izumo growled, her words full of righteous anger despite how she hadn’t been brave enough to touch him, her outstretched hand lying awkwardly across the table where she had left it after she’d faltered.

She took after the Inari demons in her bloodline and he could appreciate her blunt nature, her strong headedness leading her to the answers it had taken him years to discover.

"It is." He agreed. It was, in fact, bullshit. He had never told anyone about how Samael hurt him from time to time, how he beat him, tore his vessels shreds, and strung him up on spikes before, but now that he had he really saw how awful it was. Demons tended to overlook violence, but the anger in Izumo's eyes and the worry in Sheimi's coupled with his own wordless hurt put things into a clearer perspective.

Samael was an asshole. 

His behavior was ridiculous and childish and absolutely uncalled for. 

He stood from the table suddenly, his tea cup clattering to the cloth spread and spilling amber liquid across the fabric but he didn’t care, "It’s bullshit!" 

"Yeah!" Izumo encouraged, slamming her fist down on the table. 

"Samael thinks he can go around having fits for no reason! Oh you claimed someone I wanted to even though we're supposed to share! What, how dare you fight Rin even though I told you to! Stop complaining about my plans for my war with Lucifer!" He yelled, mimicking Samael's voice poorly but he didn’t care, screaming to get it off his chest, "I’m Samael and I’m an idiot! I make other people solve my problems then get mad when not one of them can fix me! I’ll punish you if you don’t solve my bullshit jealousy baby idiot worm like problems even though I should just be solving them myself!" Amaimon’s fists were balled, his body nearly doubled over as he yelled, eyes shut tightly. His chest ached.

His chest ached so badly...

"I’m an idiot! A stupid..a stupid no good idiot" his words slowed, wavering as tears choked the back of his throat, a lump searing into existence, "A dumb idiot who never..who never learns who's just...just.." 

Arms wrapped suddenly around him, both Izumo and Sheimi reaching out for him this time and Amaimon could feel no tension or fear in their bodies. It wasn’t often humans were so comfortable around him and where he should have been frustrated that they did not recognize his power, he was thankful instead. 

"Don’t say that," Sheimi scolded softly and Amaimon despised how she knew he’d stopped talking about Samael, despised how she didn’t even struggle to know him and perhaps it was her connection to earth's domain but he had a suspicion she would have been like that even if she'd been born fully human. 

"I hate it," He said after a long stretch of empty air, "I hate it so much. He never treated Abduxuelthis way." He hardly ever used such language, but now that the emotions were there and named they festered inside him ruthlessly. "I want to make him happy...when he's happy he’s..." he fumbled with the words to describe Samael when he was in a good mood, to capture his warmth. "He’s hardly a demon at all, then."

What an awful thing to say. The thought made him shudder a bit. If anyone had said he wasn’t a demon he would have stood to defend himself and here he was saying Samael was at times nearly human. It was a terrible insult for them. They were proud to be demons, to have domains under their control and endless years of existence both ahead and behind. Their fangs, tails, hearts, and horns were important parts of them and Amaimon knew he wouldn’t be himself if he wasn’t a demon and he didn’t want to know or even think about who that human him might be. Yet, he also knew it was a sentiment Rin would have. 

Rin. The thought of him stole his breath. Yes, Rin would sometimes equate their actions and emotions to those of his human companions and perhaps that was what he’d meant. Not an insult, but a connection. A bridging of a gap he wasn’t sure they could cross, but he was learning to make the gap smaller all the same. "Samael is a demon, he'll never be human, but that doesn’t have to be a bad thing." He said, verbalizing his ideas and he was starting to get why humans always seemed so tired. Thinking this much was tedious and exhausting, like dragging his body through thick marshland mud. The next idea took him a while to form and demanded as much energy as any fight with an enemy, "Samael says he’s a demon when he gets upset...but I don’t say that when I’m angry with him and neither does Rin. He just says it so no one asks why he’s mad, or tells him to stop. They think, he’s a demon so it’s normal, but it’s not. I’m not like that, Rin's not like that. When Samael gets angry, that’s his fault."

It was a sweeping realization. He had spent so much time walking on glass around Samael, worrying about making him happy that he hadn’t spent any time asking what he wanted.

That’s why Sheimi had asked him earlier if he wanted Rin.

Because he needed to ask himself that. 

"Oh..." he said, emotions deflating in a rush, left once more out in the open end vulnerable with his thoughts, "Oh."

"Oh what?" Sheimi probed and he could hear the coaxing in her voice.

"I think I know what I want now.”

"What's that?"

"I want to..." he frowned, arms finally lifting to wrap around Sheimi and Izumo, two humans who were becoming closer to him despite him never imagining it. "I want to get to decide what I want."

He wanted to have that again. He wanted Samael, he loved him...but he didn’t want to walk on eggshells anymore. He wanted them to be equal, like it was supposed to be. If Samael trusted him enough to complete a claim bond with him then they needed to be on eye to eye. They hadn’t been on the same page in a long time, if ever. Their relationship had had many ups and downs and Amaimon was tired of it, Samael needed to realize that his anger was his fault and his to deal with.

Amaimon was only beginning to realize how hard that conversation would be and that maybe he’d lose someone he loved because of it despite having just understood that he loved Samael.

* * *

Shiro got the call early in the morning, yawning before the grey blue light of dawn had slipped over the trees in the backyard. His wounds from Amaimon’s visit had healed a few days before, but he hadn’t seen the demon since their meeting in the confessional booth. He wasn’t sure why, but it didn’t bother him too much, he’d never been a clingy lover. 

He groaned as his phone rang, Mephisto’s name appearing on the screen before he picked it up, "It's too early for a booty call." He growled and part of him knew that was technically a lie, but he wasn’t about to admit that to the bastard. 

"This is for business not pleasure, but I like where your mind's at." Mephisto's voice coiled dark from the speaker and Shiro sat up a little straighter, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and readying himself for whatever could have caused him to be called so early. As the Paladin it could have been literally anything. "It would seem several demons were in the facility we infiltrated a few days ago and not all of them were loyal to Lucifer. Our intel tells me a handful or so used the chaos we caused to slip away and they’ve spread out across the region to cause chaos of their own. You're to meet up with a few others from our branch at that main train station and ride to the airport. They'll have the tickets and you'll catch a flight over to the Russian Branch."

"Isn’t the Russian branch able to deal with it?"

"I’ve no doubt, but since you were there when the demons got loose it’s best to send you over as an apology along with a few branch members. It’s more diplomatic than anything. Sorry for releasing a bunch of demons that ate your children or whatever."

Shiro sighed and rubbed his hand across his face tiredly, "Okay, how long should I plan to be away?"

"A few weeks."

"A few weeks!"

"Russia is a big place, you know."

He groaned loudly, letting his head fall back with the motion. "Okay." It wasn’t as if he could really say no, Mephisto was his boss after all, them being involved didn’t change that. "I’ll be at the train station in an hour."

"Keep me posted~" There was a teasing lilt to his voice that implied he would want more than the mission details and once he had some coffee and was a little less annoyed he might be inclined to comply.

"Can do." He hung up the phone and went to rouse the other men in the monastery to catch them up on the situation before going to Rin and Yukio’s room. 

He ran his fingers through their hair softly, kneeling down to kiss their foreheads. As he did Rin stirred, eyes focusing on him as he tried to rub the sleep from his eyes, "Dad?"

"Hey buddy."

Rin groaned and hid his face in the pillow under him, "I don’t wanna get up."

Shiro chuckled, "It’s not time to wake up yet, you can go back to sleep. I’m just saying goodbye before I go to work."

"You work here," Rin said before a yawn over took him and he reached out to drag his stuffed animal close. 

"I’ve got a call to go help another church get back up and running, it got damaged in a storm, they need some extra help." He lied easily, detesting how simple he found the action. "I’ll be gone for a while, I need you to watch over Yukio. Can you do that for me?" Rin nodded sleepily, curling in on himself, "I love you." Shiro said before slowly pulling away.

"Love you most." Rin said and Shiro could hear the pout in his voice.

"Hm, I suppose you can win for now but when I come back I love you the most." Shiro chuckled as he waved from the door before carefully closing it behind himself, ears just barely catching Rin's own laugh. 

He missed the two of them already. 

  
  


* * *

The trip to Russia was about what he expected it to be, long and boring. He hated train rides and flights and he didn’t understand why Mephisto couldn’t just let them use their keys or teleport them there, but he was always pulling bullshit mission plans. 

At least he had a good team of other exorcists at his back. When he was younger he probably would have complained that they were slowing him down, but now he found himself glad to have them. 

He could do without all the cold though. 

The demons released from Lucifer's facility were powerful, angry, and confused. The Russian branch helped them out as much as they could, but they made it clear that they were angry with the Japan branch's recklessness. 

The mission dragged on longer than he would have liked, as Mephisto had said Russia was a big place and the demons could wander as far as they wanted before they ran into humans. Some of them liked it that way, slinking deep into frozen mountains while others roamed hundreds of miles just for the opportunity to decimate even the smallest town. 

Shiro was growing tired of the fights, of the long nights out in the cold and the miles spent riding in cars, four-wheelers, snow-mobiles, or whatever else could get them across the constantly changing terrain of their wide search. His muscles ached constantly, the deep lingering stiffness pressing in almost as deep as the chill, yet as the days turned to weeks a new ache began to make itself known.

When it started Shiro figured he was craving a cigarette, taking one from its crumbled container and lighting it between his teeth. He took a deep drag, letting the smoke burn at the back of his throat. He let the sensation wash over him, expecting the craving to subside, but it didn’t. 

He burned through two packs that day. 

The need grew. It settled in the top of his chest, twisting there and as the hours ticked on he thought it might be heartburn. Acid reflux after so many cigarettes and eating mission food could only be expected, right? He chewed chalk tablets all night to try and help him sleep.

By the time the sun came up he was jonesing hard. He was irritated and irate, his hands and feet twitching, his gaze flicking this way and that. What the hell was wrong with him?

His teammates asked him as much but he slapped their worried hands away and stomped off, huffing through his teeth. He hadn’t felt this needlessly pissed off since he was a teenager. He felt like everything was too much. The sun was too bright, the air was too cold, his teammates talked too loud, his brain worked too fast. It was all so much, but at the very least fighting cleared his head. To his relief they came upon a huge demon and he was able to let loose. Despite the ache in his muscles and his age which even he’d admit, wasn’t particularly spry anymore, he fought like he hadn’t in years. He destroyed every enemy in sight, taking pleasure a in exorcising that he hadn't felt in a while. Yuri would have slapped him, would have called him cruel, but in the moment he didn’t care. All he wanted was to listen to them scream as he shot them and have a break from whatever was hounding him.

He couldn’t sleep. Every direction he walked in felt wrong. After a few more days passed his fighting slipped, he was reckless and made more and more mistakes. 

He twisted about in the air, a Yeti had tossed him up into the sky, cold wind whipping about his face. He tried to aim as he fell, shot ringing out into the air and missing his target. One of his teammates cried out, her chanting faltering as red bloomed under her sleeve. 

Shiro tumbled into the snow, unable to properly right himself. The rocks hidden beneath the ice cut into him, scraping rough lines against his clothing and pressing hard into his body. The fall knocks the wind out of him, leaving him aching against the ground in a crumpled heap. He could hear his fellow exorcists calling out for him, asking if he’s okay and scrambling to help the aria he accidentally shot. Their voices sounded warped though, his head pounding and when he reached up to touch his forehead warm blood smeared his fingertips. 

What would Mephisto say if he saw him messing up like this?

What would Amaimon think?

The thought pierced through him, like an icicle digging into his chest. Amaimon's name crystallized in his mind. 

Where was Amaimon? An invisible chain seemed to wrap around him, tugging him upward in a scramble. The demon's name almost touched his lips, begging to be dragged up, but before it could the others were on top of him.

And none of them were Amaimon.

Good Why wasn’t he here, it’d been weeks? A deep hunger settled inside him, a gnawing need that made it hard for him to pay attention to the other exorcists. The rest of the fight passed in a blur, his head bandaged up as he was helped into a car.The medical team said he had a bad concussion and some broken ribs, but he knew that wasn’t what was really wrong with him. In the hospital tent he stared at the ceiling, itching to move and find the earth king despite knowing that he was back in Japan. Everyone kept coming in to check up on him, not giving him a moment to breathe and he felt like he was suffocating. He needed to get back to Japan, back to Amaimon. He wanted that damn lizard's teeth on him, his claws. He wants his tail around his neck like the first time...

"Feeling any better, Fujimoto?" 

Shiro jumped as the doctor walked in, pulling the hospital bed bed blanket over him to his chest to hide the boner he’d given himself thinking about Amaimon. "I’m fine."

"Your teammates say you’ve been a bit distracted these past few days, are you sure you’re alright. Demons will have a stronger chance to prey on you if you don’t keep your head in the game."

A demon already was preying on him, that was the problem. "I'm just anxious to get back to my kids. I haven’t been away from them this long before and half the time you can’t get signal out here so I can't check on them."

The doctor laughed and took the seat that was next to his bed, "Yeah I know how that is, after my daughter was born I hated leaving for missions. It makes you antsy." Shiro sighed, at least she'd bought that and it wasn’t fully a lie. He did miss Rin and Yukio and he hated that he couldn’t check in, but it wasn’t what was distracting him. "Unfortunately with as quickly as you heal you'll be put back out in the field tomorrow. No going home early for you, there’s still a lot of demons out there."

She hadn’t been kidding about that. The mission continued to drag on, running all of them through the wringer and winding Shiro's ache tighter and tighter. What made it all the worse was the lack of privacy. The cramped camps, the long car rides, he couldn’t get any peace. He'd forgotten the last time he’d masterbated and his desires for Amaimon made him needy. He was pent up and jumpy. Shiro decided the first thing he’d do when he got back to Japan was stomp his way to the Faust Mansion and tear Amaimon's clothes off. 

The flight back to Japan was excruciating. 

* * *

  
  


"Hey! Dumbass!" He pounded on the Faust Mansion doors. Mephisto hadn’t bothered answering his texts or calls when he got back to the city and the pull to get to Amaimon felt as if it might just kill him at this point. "Let me in!"

The door swung open slowly and Shiro almost breathed a sigh of relief until his eyes settled on who had opened the door. "Welcome back, Sir. My master has been expecting you."

"Well no shit." He growled, pushing past Belial and stomping his way up to Mephisto's personal office. Belial frowned, but said nothing else, allowing Shiro to make his way through the building. Good, he was smart enough to stay out of Shiro's way. The exorcist was having none of it today. He slammed into the office space, door knocking noisily against the wall. "Clown!"

Mephisto’s eyes pierced him from across the room, green seeming to draw him into his hypnotizing gaze. "Mm I was hoping to hear your voice soon, Shiro ~"

"Sure, that’s why you haven’t answered my calls." Shiro said, his body stiffening out of instinct as Samael disappeared without his signature puff of pink smoke. 

Samael appeared behind him, his chest pressed close to Shiro's back, his fingers smoothing over the stubble that spilled out over his face and onto the top half of his neck, "Been a while since I’ve seen you look this rugged."

Shiro looked up at him as he was guided to tilt his head back against Samael's shoulder, the angle accentuating how tall the demon king was, "Have a thing for rugged men?"

A purr rumbled through Samael's chest, his free hand lowered, sliding under his shirt. He dragged his claws against the skin lightly, forcing a hard shiver from Shiro, "Unfortunately." He nosed into Shiro's neck, breathing in his scent, his breath warm and full want that had Shiro hardening quickly.

However, beneath Samael's breath, beneath his purrs and his word, his claws raking their way up his body he feet something ache and then burn low in the very basis of his being. Samael opened his mouth against his skin, fangs burying in a possessive mark that wrenched a surprised yell from Shiro. His eyes fell closed with the pain as he sucked in a harsh breath, twinged with iron and thealmost electrical current that had surged through the air as he felt Amaimon's claim shake inside him. It coiled tight in the pit of his stomach, pressing itself small as something surrounded it. Samael bit harder, a low growl taking over his purrs and it hurt... it hurt so much more than he could have ever guessed. 

As an exorcist he was taught that when a demon's claim died, the claim is removed. It was painful. It was guaranteed to make the other demon beyond angry. But this...

"Sam..Samael what are you?" He ground the words through his teeth as Samael's energy filled him forcibly, his presence flirting at the edge of a rough possession as it tore and ripped at Amaimon's claim on him. Shiro screamed. The ache from before doubled, tripled, he saw white. "Samael what the fuck!?"

"He shouldn’t have given it to you in the first place." Samael’s words sounded too close to be natural. The only reason Shiro was standing was because Samael made him. "He should know better than to touch what’s mine, you both need to be punished."

Shiro began to struggle in earnest despite knowing how stupid it was, "Bastard we thought you two were sharing me! If you wanted to fucking claim me just say!" He tried to shrink his body away from Samael's claws but they were pressing deeper with each passing second and he jerked as they pierced his stomach, "Fuck! Samael why didn’t you just say something instead of sending me off on a mission for weeks to feel this claim and for you to stew in your own fucked up jealousy! Shiro kicked his legs, his pants were warm with his blood now. Samael's teeth worried at his shoulder and he could hear the demon swallowing it down greedily. Amaimon's claim shuddered underneath the time king's power, fluttering like scraps of fabric in the wind on a torn, valley battle field. He couldn’t take much more of this, "Amaimon! Please, fuck where are you! Help Sa-” the rest of the words muffled angrily against Samael's fingers.

The next thing he knew was darkness. 

* * *

Amaimon flinched as slice of light pierced through the void he’d been locked in, his eyes quick to adjust as Shiro was tossed into wherever Samael kept things he was displeased with. He strained against the spears that skewered his body. He had never thought Samael would bring him here. He was a strong human, sure, but he was human all the same and something in Samael's eyes as he took form within the darkness told him there would be no pleasure here. 

Shiro was quick to right himself, Amaimon could smell the blood on him as their eyes met and that’s when Amaimon saw it. His claim on Shiro wavered, it’s glow flickering like a dying ember. A snarl ripped from Amaimon's throat as he ripped his arm off a spear, blood spraying at the movement. 

As a human Shiro could not remove a claim once it had been willingly accepted. He watched Samael's energy swirl around him, tearing at his mark as Shiro cried out. Samael was removing his claim by force, an excruciatingly painful process that demons hardly ever did to even each other let alone a human. "Samael stop!" He snapped, trying to keep his voice strong and steady. "Removing a claim like that could kill him!"

Shiro whipped around to face Samael, struggling to stand as the time king's power pushed down on him, "Mephisto wait!" He hadn’t known this might be fatale. Sure, the demon was rough sometimes, cruel too, but he’d never outright attempted to murder him. He opened his mouth to say something else, anything else to get Samael to calm down, but shadows filled his mouth and throat before he could. The sound of Amaimon gagging along with him filled his ears, sending a fresh spike of fear through him. If neither of them could speak then neither of them could try to tell Samael to stop. 

"I didn’t say you could talk." Samael said, voice too low, too even. He took advantage of their silence, stalking forward as his eyes gleamed predatory in the dark. He bent over Shiro, cloaking the human's body in his own and running his tongue over the deep bite in Shiro’s neck. 

A scream ripped its way up Shiro's throat as Samael's fangs sunk back in, this time tearing upwards to take a chunk of his flesh that the demon let slide down his gullet. His back arched as Samael tore Amaimon's claim fully from him, his struggles weakening. When Amaimon had laid the claim on him it had seemed to sink into his very being and now as it was removed it felt as if he was left with gaping ragged holes that stole more from him than Samael's teeth and claws ever could. 

Power swelled in the space, grew exponentially, a choked growl rippling in the air as a wave of immense pressure shoved Samael off him. Shiro found his eyes filled with tears, blinking them away as Amaimon managed to wrench Samael from him with the force of his strength alone. In the shadows there was no earth to manipulate, no plants to attempt to trap Samael with. It was his raw, angered pressure alone that thrust Samael back. 

The time king snarled, feral with anger as he pushed against Amaimon's power and Shiro knew who would win the fight, but he couldn’t look away as Amaimon struggled to keep Samael at bay, his power buffeting like wind at him as Samael sunk his claws back into Shiro's torso. 

With an unbelievable show of strength Amaimon's body shifted to his larger, lizard like form as he tore himself from Samael's spears and shadows, barreling forward to shove into Samael himself and finally place a physical barrier between him and Shiro. "Samael. You are killing him." 

Samael didn’t answer verbally, his eyes narrowing as his body bent to a crouch, fangs bared, threat evident. 

"Look at him, Samael. You took my claim from him, you know that’s difficult to survive, even for many demons. I thought you enjoyed him." Amaimon spoke steadily, gaze carefully tracking Samael's movements for any change, any hint of attack. Every one of his senses were on edge, following every fluctuation.

"I do."

Amaimon was lucky to have the words, taking them as a small victory over the snarls. "And he’s important for your plans."

Samael straightened a bit, flexing his claws pacing about them like a circling wolf, "He is."

"So you shouldn’t kill him." Amaimon tried to walk Samael through the logic, knowing very well that was how Samael’s mind worked. Point A led to point B, point B led to point C, therefore point A led to point C. Samael thought with deductive logic, unraveled meaning from traceable patterns in human and demon behaviors. Amaimon just couldn’t understand why he never followed that same logic with his own actions. 

"Humans die every day."

"But finding new humans to fit your game board takes time Lucifer won’t let you have."

Samael growled again, growing flustered, his steps coming closer together as he turned back and forth. Amaimon could see how his tail twitched under his bloodied shirt, begging to lash about behind him. He lifted his hand and drug it through the messy strands of his hair.

"You've had your fun, Samael."

"I..." he looked down, brows furrowing and falling quiet for a moment. Amaimon didn’t let his guard down. "Okay."

Amaimon held back a sigh of relief, Samael's emotions were still on a tripwire and if it hadn’t been for Shiro's ragged breaths he would have watched the time king for far longer before turning away. Behind them Shiro lay bleeding out and deeply injured from the claim removal, his breaths coming in shallow, rapid bursts. Amaimon could hear his heart running a marathon in his chest. "He’s dying."

Samael bent down and leaned over the exorcist, Shiro's glassy eyes meeting his own. The man jerked, struggling resuming as the last of his fight or flight instincts pushed him beyond his already broken limits. "Let me possess you, like when you were shot." He said, voice softer than Amaimon had heard it in weeks. Amaimon could feel Samael's essence attempt to coil out of his current host and into Shiro, but he ran into a blockage.

Shiro trembled, his mind pushing Samael away, hiding the fear running rampant within him behind a wall he’d been taught over and over how to make. Growing up in the labs those of them approved to become exorcists were taught how to block out demonic possession even on death's doorstep. Demons were fond of striking when their prey was weakened with terror and injury. A human in shock was a huge target. A strong enough demon could heal almost any injuries it dealt, for many it was just a game of how much they could hurt someone before they broke down and let the demon in. Not Shiro though, he was too well trained and in the depths of his panic looking up through blurry vision into the eyes of his attacker he held his mind away. 

"Shiro." Samael said again, pressing harder and Amaimon could hear the first true inklings of worry in his voice, but forcing Shiro wouldn’t help. It only served to frighten him further, feeling Samael's presence role over him. "Shiro you have to or you'll…”

But Shiro didn’t let him. 

Amaimon knelt down beside them, "Shiro." He said quietly, not sure what else he was trying to say with those words. He’d never tried to stop a worm from dying. Yet, as he spoke Shiro's tired gaze slid over to him and the man managed to lift his hand to his chest, clenching his fingers in his shirt, right over his heart. An odd feeling filled Amaimon. He’d never had a claim die, well, Shiro wasn’t his claim, not anymore, not after what Samael had done. It still made him feel weird though, watching Shiro die. 

Before he could make any sense of his emotions he was leaning forward, clenching his hand into Shiro's shirt right beside his own. "Let me." He said, voice strained. Slipping out of his host and into Shiro would mean accepting the pain of a rotting host. Shiro was not right for him, the body Samael had made for him in the labs was his true match and while he knew it would only be a short while until Shiro healed those few minutes in an imperfect host would remind him of centuries of agony he had thought were behind him. Despite his doubts though, he let himself search Shiro for the opening he denied Samael.

And Shiro gave it.

His walls fell away and Amaimon left his host for the pain and fear of Shiro's body. The first thing he registered was not the rips in Shiro's stomach from Samael's claws, or the deep wound in his neck and shoulder, but his lack of claim. The raw shreds of his soul, bare and exposed, torn by Samael's selfishness. Amaimon had never felt this, once a claim had been laid on him he had never had one removed. Despite all the fights he and Samael dealt with Samael had never punished him with this pain. He had never even threatened. 

A pained cry tore from his lips as he sat up, he felt like Satan had used him as his personal punching bag, "Fuck Samael, you’re lucky he’s not dead!"

The time king looked at him with wide eyes, expression shocked and Amaimon could practically see the gears turning in his head, the question screaming to be spoken between them. Why had Shiro let Amaimon possess him, but not Samael?

They both knew that answer, but Samael, with his jealous nature would probably never face it head on. This was his mistake, he didn’t deserve to possess Shiro anymore. Not even to save his life and Shiro didn’t want him to. 

They sat in silence as Shiro healed, the inky darkness of Samael's void melting away to land them and Amaimon's main host, knocked out by Samael magic, on his bed. 

Samael broke the impasse first after a few long minutes, "I shouldn’t have gone that far."

No shit. Still, even that was a big admission for Samael. "You should tell him that."

Samael looked up from where he'd looked down at his sheets, "Is he not there?"

"No." Amaimon said, feeling Shiro's consciousness in his mind and how he pressed himself back there, still scared and worried. He’d never seen Shiro like this. Sure, they hadn’t known one another for long, but Amaimon had only ever seen him when he was strong. He was stubborn and up for a challenge, but Samael had shaken him. Feeling the rough edges of where his claim had been, he could understand. Even he would have been frightened by such a display, by the pain of it. "He doesn’t want to talk to you. Taking my claim hurt more than you know."

"I do know." Samael snapped, fresh anger lacing his voice even as an undercurrent of pain shone through. Amaimon's ears fell as he remembered how Samael had lost his twin, how their claim had been broken, their link shattered. "Put your claim back on him." Amaimon practically flinched at the words, the offer taking him back. He opened his mouth to speak, but Samael was standing before he could say anything. "I’ll leave you two be."

His hand moved without his outright permission and when Amaimon spoke next it wasn’t him who had made the words as Shiro fully utilized his new demonic appearance, baring his fangs angrily, "I didn’t say you could leave, clown."

Samael blinked, "Shiro?"

Shiro dug his claws deep into Samael's wrist, part of him wanted to throw Samael out of the nearby window. "You wanted to claim me first right, that’s why you threw a huge baby fit."

Baby fit. Amaimon had never heard it described so properly. Like a toddler stamping his feet in a tantrum, Samael cried and complained loudly when he was upset, making his problems everyone else’s. For children this crying made sense, even if Amaimon found it extremely annoying, but Samael was a grown demon, the embodiment of time and space itself. 

Samael didn’t say anything, but Shiro didn’t need him to. He knew the truth well enough. "Amaimon can claim me first, you’re right you shouldn’t have done that. You don’t get to be first, but after if you want, I’ll let you claim me too."

Amaimon was quick to leave Shiro's body, if only so he could send the exorcist an appropriately confused look.

Shiro met his reaction with a smile, scooting closer to him. "Sucked being away for so long. Samael really owes me for making me go to Russia, that claim stuff hurt."

Amaimon took a chance and mirrored Shiro's actions, scooting a bit closer until their hands brushed against each other. He wasn’t sure what to say, was he supposed to say sorry? He’d seen humans apologize for actions that weren’t theirs before. He didn’t understand it though. 

Shiro let out an exasperated sigh as he watched Amaimon's brows knit in thought, Samael seeming just as frozen beside him. For idiots they sure did think a lot. He leaned forward and pressed his lips against Amaimon’s own, pushing him back onto the bed, "I was gone for weeks and trust me when I say not all my fantasies were claim influenced. If it wasn’t for Samael's stupidity I would have ripped your clothes off the moment I saw you."

A predatory grin split Amaimon's lips, his pupils slivering with excitement. Now that he understood he was more than excited. He ran his clawed fingers through Shiro's hair, "What about Samael's punishment?"

"Mm I have a few ideas." Shiro hummed, looking up at Samael and smiling in a way that made Amaimon's tail wag against the sheets, "This clown have any handcuffs?"

What kind of question was that, Amaimon wondered. Of course Samael had handcuffs. He summoned the pink, fuzzy cuffs into his hand, holding them up for Shiro to see, watching as Shiro sat back with a satisfied hum, letting Amaimon sit up. 

"Catch him."

Samael's eyes met with Shiro's, and understanding the game the man wished them to play as Amaimon began to prowl across the sheets toward him, took off in a blur of motion. 

All of the frustration he’d felt the last few weeks melted away as he and Amaimon took chase. He couldn’t quite keep pace, but Amaimon had healed his body fully and now energy seemed to burst from his every pore, feet pounding on the tiled floor beneath his feet as he watched the two demons fight. 

Samael was quick to bring the chase outside to his court yard, dodging Amaimon's motions and keeping the collateral damage to a minimum. 

A howled laugh left Amaimon's throat as he chased Samael through the yard and garden. He’d needed this. After weeks in Samael's darkness the fresh air felt wonderful through his hair, the wind burning in his lungs as he panted. He’d been itching to move for so long, pent up and held back. He got close to Samael, grabbing his sleeve, but the time king flung him up into the air. He spun as he fell, righting himself and tackling the elder to the ground, snarling. 

Samael snarled back, his fangs baring playfully, something Amaimon hardly ever saw. He bucked Amaimon off and the power should have sent him flying, but Samael was overconfident and Amaimon grinned as he won the chase. One of the handcuffs clicked around Samael's wrist, satisfaction washing over Amaimon as he watched Samael's eyes flick between both of his empty hands. This attack hadn’t come from his hands at all and expecting them to had been the time king's mistake.

Amaimon knew his mate well and Samael was bad to underestimate tails. He always preached that a proper demon should keep their tails tucked away, and for the most part Amaimon agreed, but during play fights like these they could be a huge asset.

The tip of his tail wrapped around one of the cuff and he'd used his magic to click the free cuff closed around Samael's wrist. He held tight with his tail as Samael forced him away, pain spiking up his spine and the bones pulled apart slightly before he planted his feet hard on the ground, willing the earth up around his legs and redirecting the energy Samael had pushed him with to pull him forward by his tail, the cuffs yanking Samael closer. In a flash he used the same ground that wrapped around his legs to launch himself up and over Samael as he was forced forward, letting go of the handcuffs with his tail and grabbing them with his hand. He quickly took hold of Samael's other hand, cuffing him fully. 

Part of him knew of course that Samael could have fought harder, could have teleported out of the cuffs at any time, but the act was a large part of the fun and it wasn’t everyday he got the chance to win. "Got him, Shiro." He purred, nuzzling into Samael's back and nipping his fangs in a teasing threat along the back of his spine. 

Shiro hummed as he walked down the stairs into the open area, clapping his approval. "He looks nice like that, but I think he’d look better pushed into the ground."

Amaimon couldn’t agree more. He pushed Samael forward, the time king falling and looking up at Shiro.

"You'll pay for getting my clothes dirty."

Shiro tilted Samael's chin up, "Oh no, no, no we can do whatever we want to you and your damn clown clothes after that shit you pulled." 

"Besides you always look good taking my cock in the dirt." Amaimon practically growled, tempted to dig his boot into Samael's back and press him further into the ground, but he didn’t want to push his luck. Still, he appreciated how his words made both the time king and Shiro shiver.

Shiro moved closer to the pair of demons, wrapping his arms around Amaimon’s back and resting his head on his shoulder. 

"Mm, you gonna watch me punish him?" Amaimon hummed, enjoying the feeling of Shiro's tongue against his neck.

"I’m going to do more than that." Shiro knelt down, keeping his grip light, yet guiding on Amaimon's sides prompting him to kneel behind Samael. He ran his hand up Amaimon's tail, gripping the appendage firmly in his hand, "I thought about this position a lot." 

Amaimon pressed his hips forward, hands finding Samael's belt and undoing it, scooting his pants down to give the them enough room. Shiro gave him the same treatment, his fingers stroking over the hard on Amaimon had gotten while he fought with Samael briefly before lowering his own pants and leaving them all exposed. 

Samael's tail unwrapped from around his waist, his face turning so his gaze could meet Shiro and Amaimon's own, "You fantasize about us, Shiro~?"

"You know damn well I do," Shiro laughed, wanting there to be a more commanding presence in his voice, but Amaimon had wrapped his tail around his cock making him moan. "You've been in my head." Samael hummed his confirmation, but Shiro knew saying it allowed made the demon happy, even if he may never have admitted it. 

Amaimon took Shiro's hand in his own and pressed his fingers to his lips. Shiro was quick to listen, Amaimon's mouth opening for him. His tongue curled around Shiro's digits, licking along the pads. With his own hands Amaimon summoned a bottle of lube. He wouldn’t really prepare Samael, he didn’t deserve it and besides, Amaimon knew he liked it rough anyway. He slicked his length generously, wanting to ease the pressure just enough so he could bury himself inside quickly. He could feel Shiro's gaze boring into him, smiling around his fingers as he pressed the head of his length against Samael, forcing his way in steadily.

Samael's ears flattened to his head, eyes clenching tight in pain as his fangs ground together. His tail lashed about, but he didn’t move away. If anything he pushed back on Amaimon encouraging him, trying to will him deeper and deeper still. 

Within moments his hips pressed flush to Samael's ass, his warmth enveloping the earth king completely as Amaimon bit down on Shiro’s fingers, slicking them with both his blood and saliva. Behind him Shiro gasped, his length pressing against Amaimon's back to smear a bead of pre-cum there. 

Shiro shivered as he felt Amaimon's claim sink back into him, a feeling of surety washing over him. This was right where he was supposed to be at the moment. All the stress from the mission washing away to leave him completely in the moment. He pulled his fingers from Amaimon’s mouth, only briefly mourning the soft feeling of his tongue curling between them. He stretched Amaimon gently, reacquainting himself with the earth king’s body and enjoying the feeling of him thrusting into Samael only to push back onto his fingers. Amaimon didn’t rush him to go faster, letting Shiro take him in and do as he pleased. Even still, Shiro could hear the deep purr that rumbled through his chest as he finally removed his fingers and pressed the head of his length against him. 

Samael's tail reached out and wound around Shiro's wrist, tugging him closer, impatient for the real fun to begin. Shiro got the message loud and clear, pulling away from Amaimon until he had almost slipped out only to shove back in deep and hard, drawing twin gasps from the two demons. 

All pretenses of calm fell away as they melted against each, the tension that had built up between them and the days they’d been apart falling away. Shiro thrust roughly into Amaimon, eyes widening as the earth king pressed Samael into the ground even as he thrust back greedily against Amaimon. Shiro had known he’d love the image of Amaimon taking Samael, but watching him be shoved roughly into the dirt made him ache to ruin the time king completely. "Choke him."

Shiro expected Amaimon to wrap his tail around Samael's neck like he had when he’d fucked Shiro roughly into the time king’s bed, but Amaimon moved his tail further, pressing it against Samael's lips. 

Samael opened for him, giving in quickly to the rough thrusts Amaimon aimed at his mouth. Amaimon shoved his tail as far down Samael's throat as he could, Shiro watching with wide eyes as Samael took everything. There was a moment where it seemed as if he would gag, where his brows pinched together in concentration but Amaimon kept pushing until Samael drew strained breaths through his nose, eyes rolling back in his head as he shook under them. Amaimon was lengthening his tail with his magic to fill Samael impossibly, the sight of Amaimon letting his tail stretch and thicken turning him on more than he'd thought it would.

These demons had really messed him up. 

He set his teeth against Amaimon's neck, biting down hard as the sound of Samael moaning around Amaimon's tail went straight to his dick. He thrust roughly against Amaimon, pushing him over until he was practically folded on top of Samael. 

Amaimon groaned, Shiro reaching further inside him as he adjusted the angle of his movement, the head of his cock brushing steadily against his prostate. Shivers ran down his spine, ending at the tip of his tail. Samael swallowed around him, his moans vibrating softly against his scales. He nipped needfully at Samael's neck, growling lowly as Samael tightened around him, still managing to tease even when he looked like a mess beneath them. 

Samael's length stood stiff between his legs, leaking pre-cum into the dirt. He looked perfectly disheveled, rocking back greedily as his legs shook. 

“Don’t let him finish.” Shiro said as Samael’s strained breaths grew closer together, his ears falling against his head in a sign that he had already learned meant the demon was close. “Not until I say so.”

Amaimon grinned widely, “You’re full of wonderful ideas today.” He purred, reaching his hand around and squeezing Samael’s cock hard at the base.

Samael’s hips stuttered, a broken whine escaping him, muffled around Amaimon’s tail, but Shiro could still hear the frustration there. With Samael properly taken care of, a sense of smug satisfaction washed over him. Shiro began to truly focus on his own pleasure. He let himself get lost in Amaimon’s warmth, in the rhythm. Amaimon moaned lowly, his pleasured growls making Shiro smile every time he pulled them from the demon king. 

“Close.” Amaimon breathed quietly, the admission bringing Shiro almost as much pleasure as being buried in him did. 

“Going to cum for us?” Shiro asked, ghosting his hand over Amaimon’s ass before bringing it down hard against his skin, the sound ringing out in the quiet air around them.

Amaimon smiled, pulling away from Samael’s back to press his face against the man’s neck, kissing at his jaw, “Do you want me to, Father?”

A shiver ran down Shiro’s spine as Amaimon drug up the memories of the confessional with a single word. He pressed his lips hard against the demon’s own, his own orgasm quickly approaching. “Yes." He growled, biting Amaimon's lips until he tasted blood on his tongue.

"Yes, what?"

It took Shiro a moment to answer, overwhelmed and shaking. His body was starting to ache from the effort of fucking up into Amaimon, but he didn’t care, "I want you to cum inside him, fucking fill him up even more."

Amaimon's head rested on Shiro's shoulder, his eyes closing as his movements stuttered, pressing deeply inside Samael as he came with a moan. 

Shiro could have sworn he heard Samael whine needfully as Amaimon finished inside him, back arching as his tail shuddered. One of these days Shiro would have to see how much cum Samael could take. Maybe he could get Amaimon to screw him in his lizard form. 

The image of Amaimon finishing as Samael choked and moaned around the earth king's tail was his undoing, slamming his hips forward sharply with a stuttered moan. He panted as he came, the pleasure making his entire body tense as his sweaty bangs brushed against Amaimon's skin. A purr rumbled through the earth king's chest, warming him further as he came down from his high, settling down into the lackadaisical satisfaction of his afterglow. 

Samael squirming beneath them, still hard and leaking, made Shiro's finish all the better. 

He pulled away from Amaimon slowly, running his hands greedily over the earth king's ass, smiling into a kiss as Amaimon brought their lips together gently. It felt good to be claimed by him again. His body had felt weird without it, off kilter for the short period of time it had been removed. He looked forward to having Samael's claim on him too now that the demon had stopped acting childishly. He sat down in the grass, leaning back on his elbows as he worked to catch his breath, Amaimon mirroring his actions and laying down, his tail pulling away from Samael's throat. 

"Should we let him cum?" 

Shiro shook his head, "Not yet, he’s got a mess to clean up. Think you can summon a collar?" He asked, tilting his head to look at Amaimon out of the corner of his eyes, smirking. 

"I think we'll have to ship you off to Russia more often, all that time to think made you creative." Amaimon laughed as he did as Shiro asked, a pink collar appearing around Samael's neck, the handle settling snuggly between Shiro's fingers. 

"You better fucking not." Shiro said, looking at Samael with a swelling sense of pride. He’d made the demon look like that. He tugged the collar hard, Samael snarling at him as he did but making no move to break away. "Do you want to claim me, Samael?"

"Yes." Samael's voice was low, his pupils slivered as he hissed, Shiro pulling him between his legs. 

"Then clean me."

Samael's gaze flicked from Shiro's eyes down to his cum covered length, his nose crinkling in disgust. "Shiro the germs th-“

Amaimon’s laugh cut Samael off, "You've done nastier, Samael." He said, stroking his length to let his cum gather under his claws before pressing his fingers expectantly against Samael's mouth. 

Just as he had for Amaimon's tail Samael's mouth opened allowing the fingers inside, licking the cum off them with an expression that mixed disgust and lust in a way Shiro hadn’t thought possible. It went straight to his dick, his length twitching with interest despite his previous finish. He pulled Samael forward by his collar, the time king releasing Amaimon's fingers with an overacted pop that made Shiro shiver. "Clean me and claim me." He commanded, voice clear and powerful despite his arousal and despite the fact that he was staring down one of the most powerful entities in the world. "I want to watch you cum as you do it."

Samael bowed his head over Shiro's length, warm, soft tongue moving pass parted lips to stroke up the side of his cock. Amaimon shifted beside them, Shiro lifting his arm for him to curl against his chest, purr rumbling through his ribs. 

He hadn’t pinned Amaimon for a cuddler at first, but seeing the way he would cling to Samael in sleep made it unsurprising now. Amaimon was deeply possessive and his hands wandering along Shiro’s stomach in slow circles reminded him of that, the demon's claim over him settled and soothing. 

Shiro watched as Samael lowered one of his hands, wrapping his fingers around his own cock as stroking, slow at first but speeding up as he licked every last bit of finish from Shiro before sinking down completely on his growing erection. "More of a slut than a germaphobe aren’t you." Shiro hummed, yanking the collar hard, the growl his words got in response vibrating around him. He laid his head back against the grass and moaned, letting Samael's mouth bring him back to full hardness, "F-Fuck."

Before long Samael was sucking him off in earnest, his head bobbing up in down in the same rhythm that he jerked himself off with and fuck if anyone had ever told Shiro he’d have the director on his knees, desperately stroking himself while he sucked his cock he would have called them a liar, but damn was he glad it was real. A low whine reached his ears, Shiro grinning as he saw the flush that stretched over Samael's cheeks, "Close?" Another soft moan was his answer.

Claws pricked his legs for a brief moment, Shiro’s gaze watching attentively as Samael moved away from him, panting quietly, his warm breath washing over his length in a way that made Shiro buck his hips, wanting Samael's lips around him again. "Who said you could sto-!"

Samael's fangs sank into the soft skin of his thighs, burying his face there as his free hand moved to take over, giving Shiro's cock the attention he craved but now he hardly noticed as the time king's claim flooded into him. 

Samael had tried to explain space to him, and on some levels Shiro had expected the intense feeling of smallness that washed over him, but what really threw his brain for a loop was the possibilities. 

Time stretched out like a river in front of him, cutting its path through a canyon. At first glance it was easy to think that the course of the water was set, but that was as far from the truth as one could get. The water could forge any path it wanted to, or any direction it was led to. 

Samael was all at once the river, washing over silt and sand, and the hands that built dams to direct the flow. Time turned this way and that, sliding over chance and happenstance, creating culverts and watersheds. Events upstream could direct those downstream, but so could a tree that toppled into the rapids during a storm. 

It was simultaneously impossible to predict and blissfully familiar and of all the paths the water could have taken, of all the storms and fallen trees, of all the dams that could have been built, the water led to this exact moment and what a perfect moment it was. 

Shiro wasn’t sure when he’d knotted his fingers into Samael's hair, but he didn't have time to care, moaning as he came back to reality only for his orgasm to take him by surprised, head falling back into the grass as his back arched, "S-Samael fuck!" He moaned, his hips moving of their own accord in shallow, quick thrusts as he came in thick stripes across Samael's face. 

It took him a long moment for his brain to come back to him, his finish and the claiming leaving him blissfully unaware of what had happened until, "You got it in my eye." Samael grumbled, the sound so close to a whine that it pulled a laugh louder than Shiro had ever heard from the earth king. Amaimon snickered as Samael pouted dramatically, pressing small bites to Shiro's neck as he looked down at the mess he had made. 

Samael looked up at him through one, glowing green eye, his face absolutely ruined with the strands of Shiro's cum. It smeared against his lips, cheeks, his nose, and right across his left eye. 

The image was enough masterbation material to last Shiro for weeks. 

Amaimon snapped his fingers, summoning a camera to his hand and snapping a picture. "Want a copy?" He asked despite how Samael glared up at them, a loud growl rumbling through his chest.

"Do you even have to ask?"

* * *

Rin left the monastery after watching Shiro lay his past self and Yukio down for his nap. Mephisto appeared beside him once he was a few blocks away, looking distracted, “It’s time for the next location, Rin.”

He lifted his fingers and moved to snap them away, but Rin reached out his hand, grabbing his wrist to stop the motion, "Wait, are we not going to talk about what Amaimon said back there?"

"Why?" Mephisto shook his head, "You heard everything there was to hear." 

"But Abdu-“

Mephisto snatched his hand away, "Don't say his name." He growled, "You can ask questions after you've seen everything there is. Will that make you happy?"

Rin winced at his tone, turning his gaze away from Mephisto to look down at the ground. "Sure, Samael."

"The next part isn’t pretty." Mephisto said, a bitter edge to his voice that match the tone Rin had used with him, "Don't say I didn’t warn you." He snapped unimpeded now, whisking Rin away to the time king’s all too familiar mansion.

He left Rin to watch the scene alone and he was starting to get used to the odd coldness that sank into his bones when Mephisto disappeared from his side, the emptiness that hung in the air after his smoke had cleared. What he wasn’t used to was the sudden heaviness in the front pocket of his jacket. He reached down, pulling out a key and a small note. The paper was neatly folded, Mephisto's handwriting scrolling across the page. The coldness that filled him grew as he looked it over, the page lacking all of Mephisto's usual cheekiness. There were no hearts, stickers, or suggestive tildes. Even the paper was plain, college ruled white. 

_'Rin, once this is over, you'll know when it is, lift the key to the air and ask for a door. Don’t ask for a location; the door is enough to take you where you'll need to be. Watch the part after for as long as you wish, then ask the key for another door. When you are done take your regular infinity key and come back to the penthouse.'_

He hadn’t even signed it. 

Rin wanted to crumble the paper beneath his fingers, burn it to a crisp in his grasp, but the sound of pacing in the room over caught his attention. He peaked through a nearby door, finding Mephisto's office beyond. It was in a different location than he was used to, but with how Mephisto enjoyed rearranging his mansion that didn’t come as much of a surprise. He watched as Mephisto turned around and around in a tight circle, like a tiger in a too small cage. 

Amaimon joined him moments later and Rin could smell Shiro's familiar scent on him even through the door, quickly getting a good idea of where Amaimon had just come from. A blush rose to his cheeks as the demons faced each other, an energy of play crackling in the air around them. He wanted to join in, sink his fangs into Amaimon's neck and let his warm blood wash over his palette. However, before he could get too deep into his fantasy the temperature in Mephisto's office seemed to plummet. The energy from before changed and Rin watched as Mephisto slid from Samael's presence like a shed skin. Goosebumps crawled up Rin's skin, eyes widening as Samael's claws sunk deeply into Amaimon’s neck, red blooming across his skin and dripping onto the floor. 

Samael's rage rattled his ribs with its potency, his words making his tail curl right around his middle as it tried to tuck out of instinct. Amaimon had claimed Shiro as his own, the news striking Rin with surprise. If anything he would have expected Samael to make that move first, but now that Amaimon had Samael seemed anything but pleased. 

He wanted to urge Amaimon to run before Samael snapped, before his rage manifested itself fully, but he knew he couldn’t intercept. With a swell of Samael's magic he whisked Amaimon and himself away. Rin knew it was time for the next scene, taking out the key he had been given and lifting it into the air. He asked for a door, the words quiet in his mind. Mephisto had told him the next scenes weren’t pretty and he had a sinking feeling in his chest about what was to come. 

A door formed in the air, dread itself seeming to seep through the keyhole. He pulled the key out and set his hand on the knob, taking a few moments to try and calm his breathing. His instincts flared up inside him, an itch at the back of his mind triggered by seeing Samael’s anger and feeling his demonic presence so exposed. If he was going to control himself for what came next he’d have to pay close attention to them, letting his instincts get the better of him could distort the past beyond repair, a common issue when time traveling. 

He was engulfed in darkness as soon as he stepped through the door, walking out into what he occasionally referred to in his mind as Samael's play space. It was covered in shadows, a pocket dimension Samael would toss he and Amaimon in for some extra demonic play. Letting Samael push vicious pain into blissful pleasure was the ultimate stress relief, letting him express his darkest demonic desires. 

He knew Amaimon wasn’t in for rough sex though, Samael's energy far too threatening. He didn’t want to watch this. Through the coiling, oppressive miasma that filled the edges of the space he could see the outlines of Amaimon and Samael's bodies. Amaimon cried out in pain, Rin closing his eyes tight as he heard Samael's words telling Amaimon he’d never see Shiro again.

Rin had seen Samael’s punishments before and he didn’t need to see anything else, lifting the key back into the air and stepping through the door. Yet as he did he wondered in the back of his mind if Samael had ever treated Abduxuel this way. Had he ever seen this space as a place for more than just pleasure. Had Samael yelled at him, pointed the brunt of his anger at him and blamed him unfairly?

Darkness met him as he was brought to the next scene, thinking for a moment that the key hadn’t worked as he found himself in Samael's space yet again, but then he heard Shiro's voice.

The fear he heard there, his dad crying out as he was tossed into the shadows pushed ice deep into his veins. Rin ran through the miasma now, needing a closer look when earlier he’d turned away, too disgusted to watch while he was powerless to help Amaimon. His eyes widened at what he saw and this time, despite working to hold back his instincts, it was nearly impossible to hold his growls in his chest.

Shiro’s front was covered in blood, holes left by rows of sharp teeth stood out against his neck and shoulders as he struggled on the ground. Samael stalked towards him anger and bloodlust burning in his slit pupiled gaze. Blood dripped from his jaws and hands. 

An energy Rin could barely comprehend swirled around him, darker than any he’d felt pour from Samael before and as he closed his eyes he could sense Amaimon’s claim on Shiro waver then shred.

Shiro screamed and Amaimon's voice joined in, pleading with Samael to stop, telling him he was about to kill Shiro, but Samael didn’t care. 

Rin's heart skittered in his chest as Samael pressed forward further, Shiro's panic bleeding into the air as blood sluiced down his front. Rin could see him shaking from where he stood both from blood loss and terror. Samael’s body cloaked over his, teeth latching back into Shiro’s neck and bile rose in the back of his throat as he realized what was doing. He could hear Samael’s teeth tear into Shiro’s flesh, ripping muscle away from bone before letting it slide down his throat. 

He was eating Shiro, his dad, and while Rin knew that somehow Shiro survived this fight he couldn’t understand how. What could have possibly torn Samael from his prey once his anger and instincts took control?

Rin received his answer a few moments later, Amaimon's presence expanding rapidly outward and nearly bowling him over. Amaimon wrenched himself from the spikes Samael had strung him up on, Rin wincing at the action as he heard Amaimon's bones creak and snap under the force of his movement. His power shoved Samael back, his energy rising up in a punishing wave that brought Rin to his knees. He had never felt Amaimon like this. He had fought him plenty of times now and never had his being weighed down so heavily upon him. Not even when he had forced Rin to the ground to tell him he wasn’t going to claim Rin without Samael’s permission.

Was he trying to save Rin from the same vicious attacks, the same pain Samael had put Shiro through?

Amaimon roared, running at Samael and using his body to push Samael farther away, wrenching him completely from Shiro, his lizard form seeming to glow luminescent in the dark. He stood between Shiro and Samael, his expression menacing, fangs bared in a clear threat. It wasn’t a fight he could win, something Amaimon was well aware of, yet there he stood. 

He didn’t fight though, instead he spoke, calming the monster that was Samael, his voice threatening but low and steady, like someone calming an attacking dog. Slowly Samael shook off most of his threatening aura and Amaimon allowed him to approach Shiro's dying body. Rin tried not to think too hard about what Amaimon had said to bring him down from his anger, his words bearing no emotion, only cold, calculating facts. Samael was quick to say he didn’t love, he couldn’t, and although Rin knew that wasn’t the truth, moments like these made it feel like it was. How could someone who had the ability to love, could even possibly love the person they were attacking, only be subdued when their plans for world domination or peace, or whatever Samael was going to call it, were put into jeopardy? Amaimon used logic to calm Samael, but shouldn’t ‘you’re killing someone you care about’ be seen as logical enough by the time king? 

Emotions were their own justifications in many instances, Rin had seen that plenty of times during his life. He himself was alive in strong part because of emotions. Shiro’s feelings for Yuri played a huge role in him taking Rin and Yukio in and Samael had counted on that so on some level he understood the logic of emotions and at times their reliability. Yet, they weren’t enough to be considered when he was about to murder the person who was quite possibly his best friend. 

Samael seemed to realize what he had done as he kneeled beside Shiro, asking the man to let him possess him, to save him, but it wasn’t working. Shiro wouldn’t let him in, falling still and setting walls in front of him that Rin swore he could feel even though he had never attempted to possess anyone. He wasn’t even sure if he could take over another body, but he did know that if Shiro could keep Satan out regularly then Samael wouldn’t be able to get in without express permission.

Amaimon realized this and reached out for Shiro, asking to possess him instead. Shiro let him in a few moments later and Rin could see how much that hurt Samael, betrayal burning in his eyes despite that Shiro's actions were his fault for almost killing him. 

Shiro gasped as Amaimon took him over, Amaimon's voice coming from him full of pain and directed at the time king as he sat up. Seeing Amaimon in Shiro was odd, perhaps odder than seeing Mephisto. His striking eyes and placid expression changed his father’s face to the point where for one terrifying moment it was hardly recognizable. 

Amaimon’s previous host tumbled to the ground and Samael waved his hand over the boy making sure he stayed still. Being reminded of the demon's host made him a bit uncomfortable. He didn’t have to watch for much longer though, Samael whisking them away. He left shortly after, using the infinity key to take him back to Samael's penthouse, appearing outside the large door. 

Palms pressing against the wood door he stood for a long moment, head hanging low between his arms. Every time he went to the past it took a toll on him. Why was it every time he traveled back there was something horrible to learn, to witness? For a while he had worried about why he was alive, wondered if it would have been better if he’d never been born, but it was just now that he was starting to see a clearer through line. 

This wasn’t his past, hell, even when he’d watched his birth that hadn’t been his past either, not fully anyway.

Every scene with Mephisto taught him more, the time king’s actions and their repercussions playing out in front of him and filling him with a whirlwind of ever changing emotions. This was Mephisto’s story and it always had been. From the beginning he had been instrumental in the events of Rin’s life, in hundreds of other people’s lives. He wove together the strands of people’s entire existences, his plans tightening some connections, while cutting others loose. Some strands he crafted himself, manufacturing people’s births, like Rin’s own. Other strands he pulled from afar, drawing people in and spreading his influence until he could work everyone into a tapestry only he could see the big picture of. 

But now, now Rin was learning to flip the tapestry over and see the seeming chaos of strings at the back, Mephisto’s story. Each and every knot, every backtrack and patch job. Mephisto’s story was one of redos and hidden threads, his story was the lives of other people.

At least that’s how it had seemed at first. 

The tapestry was the weavers' work. The back of the fabric was the effort they’d sunk into their craft and while that showed the truth of the weavers’ process it didn’t show the weavers hands or the loom. 

Mephisto was showing him the back of his weavings, expecting it to be enough to sate him, but Rin needed more. Seeing someone’s creations could give a glimpse into their life, but they weren’t the creator themselves and there was a separation between craft and crafter that Rin hadn’t seen at first. Mephisto showed his work, but he didn’t show himself.

He left Rin to put the pieces together, to see the time king through the threads. But this time, standing in front of the penthouse Rin wondered why. Before, when he’d seen his birth his travels had been about learning who he was and those who worked to protect him, but this time he got the sense that Mephisto was hiding himself.

Show Rin enough violence, enough confusing information and Mephisto would be swallowed beneath the details. 

Rin had had enough of it.

He stepped into the large, window filled entrance room, catching sight of Mephisto once again looking out into the night covered city beyond. He turned towards Rin and he could see how the cogs in his brain turned as he opened his mouth to speak. 

Part of Rin wondered what he would say after all he had seen, wondered what he could possibly tell Rin that would make the anger and disappointment that had been building in his gut still. Mephisto had hurt Amaimon, more than Rin had ever seen and more than he knew was normal for demons and on top of that he had actively tried to murder his father. Shiro would have died if Amaimon hadn’t stepped in. Rin had no doubts of that. He lied about not loving for reasons Rin did not understand. Lied to Amaimon and to himself, denying what he knew deep down to be true. Part of him wanted to listen to him, but a bigger part of him was tired of his lies, of his hurtful actions. 

Rin turned to go towards the bedroom he’d slept in the night before, waving his hand behind him. "I know you probably won’t join me, but I want you to know, I’d rather sleep alone again."

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y’all this chapter was a pain in my butt! First it felt like it took forever, then editing it took like a whole day longer than I thought it would, then as an extra F you infully formated it only for it to delete itself so I had to format it alllllll over again. I about didn’t format it. I got so frustrated that I just wanted to post it without the page breaks or italics or proper spacing or any of it. 
> 
> And now I am so tired ToT 
> 
> Anyway I hope y’all like the chapter! Things are gonna get really shaken up in the next chapter! Hope to see y’all there!


	8. Glass Constellations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time travel can be difficult, you know. So can a lot of others things.

Amaimon felt the moment Satan came into the world.

It was the darkest hours, right before the sun's light lit the sky pale blue in the dawn, when the moon was hidden behind the horizon.

There weren’t any storm clouds outside Mephisto's large windows, but like lighting cracking across the world the flash of Satan's presence illuminated itself in his very aspect, snapping him awake in the dark.

He tore at the sheets gasping, heart pounding in his chest as his fingers ached under the weight of his panic, his gaze searching Mephisto's room until he found him, green eyes turning to face him from a porcelain expression on the other side of the room.

"No." The word crossed his lips as it sunk in what was happening, throwing off his covers, "No!" He had never felt such rage, this unseen strike of grief hitting him like nothing ever had before. Like an act of God, sure and definitive. "You told me we had more time!"

Samael said nothing.

Amaimon felt the moment Shiro left the world. Forever.

The next few hours passed without the earth king's permission, all emotion fleeing him as Samael left to hammer out the details of his plans. Yukio and Rin were going to be attending his school now that Satan had killed Shiro, the words buzzed in his head, but he just sat in bed, unable to move and heavier than any mountain.

He didn’t sleep, he didn’t eat, he didn’t chew on his nails or pet Behemoth when he came to curl up against him. Samael offered little comfort, only offering food and drink that Amaimon hardly noticed, his gaze blank as he stared down at the plate.

A few days later, after Shiro's funeral, they fought.

"You said we had more time." Amaimon repeated sometime around midnight. It was still raining outside, it had been all day and Mephisto hadn’t bothered to wipe the water off his pink umbrella when he’d stepped through the mansion doors after he got home from Shiro's funeral.

Mephisto looked up from where he read a manga on his bedroom couch, setting it aside with a quiet sigh on his glass coffee table. "I never said how much time, these things are flexible, you know that."

Amaimon did know, but it didn’t change the pain, something that surprised even him, "I didn’t say goodbye."

"If you had said goodbye he wouldn’t have left himself open to possession. Shiro wouldn’t have gone down without a fight if he knew what was coming." Mephisto said, looking away from him now in favor of the far wall, "He didn’t go down without a fight as is and that was with no warning, it almost went wrong. Besides, humans die everyday, remember."

"I’ve never lost a claim before." Amaimon whispered, his eyebrows pinching together. It hurt. To feel Shiro's energy leave, to feel that bond shattered. He didn’t know what to do with the raw areas of himself. “You whine about wanting to say goodbye to Abduxuel.” Whined too much in Amaimon’s opinion.

Mephisto's head snapped up and the ghost of a hiss slipped between his fangs for just a moment, "That isn’t the same."

"Why not?" Amaimon asked as his hands balled into fists just like they had the night Satan had come back and taken his claim from him, "Why not! Why do you get to mope about him for years, but when I want to say goodbye you tell me I saw it coming?"

"I didn’t see it coming, Amaimon. That’s the difference." Mephisto said, standing as if he wanted nothing to do with Amaimon’s words and he probably didn’t.

"You held onto his body for four years, Samael! You saw it coming!"

"But it wasn’t a part of my p-“ Mephisto shook his head hard, looking down at the ground and rubbing his hand across the right side of his forehead, palm pressing into his eye. “Forget about Shiro, there’s no point to all this...this…” he waved his free hand in the air as if grasping at unseen strings, his nose crinkling with disgust, “Emotion.”

"I will not forget it, you lied to me!" Amaimon growled, moving from the bed for the first time since Shiro's death, "You didn’t even let me go to the funeral!" Typically Amaimon couldn’t have cared less about funerals, about silly human customs, but part of him knew that seeing where his claim had been buried in the earth would soothe the pain his absence had left in his chest. He had known feeling a claim die would hurt, he’d seen Samael go through it, but this persistent emptiness bothered him more than any anger could.

"Rin and Yukio were there and they couldn’t see you, now that they're old enough to properly remember you you can’t visit. We agreed on that years ago."

"I could have disguised myself and you know it."

Mephisto stalked forward, but Amaimon didn’t shrink back, drawing himself up to full height even though Mephisto still towered over him, "I didn’t want you to cause a scene. You know, like you're doing right now."

"Like you do every time you throw a baby fit over this thing or that."

Mephisto didn’t bother to suppress his growl this time, "Excuse me?"

"You heard me, time king." He wanted to jab his finger into Mephisto's chest, wanted to dig it in and remind him what it felt like to lose something that was his since he didn’t seem as impacted by Shiro's death. "You let my claim die and I wanted to say goodbye."

"If you had said goodbye it could have ruined the timeline."

"I said, I wanted to say goodbye, Samael."

"And I said it wasn’t in the plan."

A tremor shook the mansion, Mephisto's figurines crashing to the ground around them. "We’ll plan for this. I’m leaving!" Amaimon snarled, turning away from Mephisto, tired of looking at him, of hearing about plans and what he could and couldn’t do so Mephisto could keep playing with his toys.

Mephisto wasn’t about to let him leave so easily though, grabbing his hand so hard his wrist broke under the pressure, " You are not!"

Amaimon grit his teeth against the sudden flare of pain, turning to face Mephisto, yanking his arm back so hard he heard Mephisto's arm pop from it's socket. "I am, Samael." He didn’t give Mephisto time to respond, knowing he wouldn’t say anything worth listening to, snapping to disappear.

Samael felt the moment Amaimon left the world.

* * *

It was raining again, like it had been that night when he’d left. His breaths came in short, stressed huffs, sweat beading on his forehead.

Shiro's death was an old dream, an old memory that came to him on nights when Samael was out of town and the mansion felt big enough to swallow him whole. In the end he’d come back to Samael a few weeks after he’d stormed off and went back to Gehenna. It hadn’t been long at all until Samael had called him, asking him to return to help strengthen Rin. Samael's claim had already begun to ache and he longed for things to go back to relative peace.

They hadn’t though, even when he’d come back things were tense between them and Mephisto was quick to punish him after his fight with Rin in the forest.

Rin had soothed their rough edges, his heat bringing them back together in a way they hadn’t been since before Shiro died. He was a calming presence, his smile infectious and able to break even Amaimon’s passive expression from time to time. Play fighting with him was relaxing and he knew how to soothe a fair amount of Mephisto's darker tendencies. There were moments when it felt like nothing was wrong with them at all.

This wasn’t one of those moments.

The storm outside pounded against the roof and Amaimon wished Mephisto had opted for a tin one. It wouldn’t have matched the rest of the mansion but the sound of rain on a tin roof was something Amaimon found calming.

A long time ago he’d sat beneath one during a heat wave in a rural mountain forest, the cicadas had fallen silent in the night, the fireflies pausing their dance, the world falling silent for just a moment, before lightning cracked across the sky and rain torrented down for the first time in weeks. The quiet before the storm was a saying for a reason, the earth knew all too well when to go quiet.

Not this time though.

He wouldn’t weather this storm quietly. It was far past time for action and while he found comfort in the world’s quiet, rain and wind turning the leaves on the trees over to reveal their lime green underbellies, he couldn’t find that quiet in himself. He was tired. He had been for a long time.

He stood from the bed, letting his feet rest for a short moment on the cold tile floor. Amaimon watched the storm outside before walking out onto Mephisto's balcony. The wind whipped around him, blowing his hair in messy strands around him as rain slipped in cold lines down his body.

After a night of watching rain Amaimon liked to feel how the earth came to life, a rebirth more common than the changes of the seasons as a freshness coiled in the air. Washing away the days before, the dust on the leaves, a world awash in rain was a world made new. And now, after figuring out his feelings and what he wanted it was time he let the rain wash away the past and bring him into a new beginning.

It was time to start over.

He reached deeply into himself feeling Samael's claim on him and the base of his own claim on Samael.

When a claim was willingly removed it was as easy as breathing and took no more than a moment. There wasn’t any pain, no near death experience, but he knew it wouldn’t feel that way for Samael. Still, this was something that had to be done. They hadn’t been on the same page since the beginning and Amaimon knew that. Instead of trying to fix what they had they both needed to face the truth. It was time to make something new and maybe that new thing would be another claim bond, but Amaimon wasn’t going to let Samael treat him like he had been for years, or use him in any more plans.

If they were together then it needed to be because they loved one another.

He wasn’t sure if Samael had reached that point yet, but he was tired of waiting and he knew the time king needed a real wake up call.

Carefully he untangled Samael's mark from his aspect, freeing himself of the claim that had been laid on him. Feeling the parts of Samael's aspect leave left him shaking a bit, taking a deep breath to steady himself. There was no physical pain, but letting go even though it was the right thing to do saddened him. He was learning slowly that love was deeply complicated. Sheimi and Izumo were helping him give a voice to his feelings, but the duality of affection still confused him. He and Samael both needed this, but it still brought a lump to the back of his throat.

As a demon so many things were straightforward and set in stone, but he knew that with time and patience even the tallest mountains could soothe to valleys. Change was a necessary part of life, even when most demons didn’t seem to think so.

Amaimon could only hope that this action would show Samael that it was his turn to deal with his own feelings for once. He needed to look inward, just as he was learning how to do and calm the rough edges of his being. That couldn’t be anyone else’s job.

Through the years that separated them physically Amaimon traced his aspect, his presence, and found Samael. He could not picture him physically, but he could sense him in the way all demon king’s knew one another intrinsically. There, etched within Samael was the earth king's claim.

He did it quickly, knowing hesitation would cause unnecessary pain, pulling his claim up and away from Samael and hoping it wouldn’t be for forever. "I’m sorry." He whispered, his words taken away on the wind to someplace he couldn’t see, high into the air and the rain.

Amaimon turned, walking back into the bedroom, soaked to the bone and feeling lower than he had in quite some time. He crawled under the sheets and did not sleep.

* * *

By the time Rin woke up Mephisto was already eating breakfast at the penthouse's dining room table. He didn’t turn his head as Rin entered the space, choosing to focus his attention on the eggs benedict in front of him, knife sliding through the skin of a perfectly poached egg to let the yolk and hollandaise sauce run over his avocado and toast.

Rin sat down across from him and Mephisto summoned him a plate, the two eating in silence for the majority of the meal until, plate nearly cleared, Mephisto spoke. "We're returning to the present today."

"Not much more to see?" Rin asked, his voice coming out in a tone he hardly recognized. The night spent alone had done little to soothe him and when they came back he didn’t know what he'd do, especially since everything he’d been shown made him more and more frustrated with Mephisto.

"Nothing more."

The words sank in slowly for Rin, his eyebrows knitting as he leaned forward, over the table that separated them, "What do you mean there’s nothing more?"

"I mean, that last scene was it, I’m taking you home."

Rin set aside his cutlery, lifting his palms in front of him in a stopping motion, "Woah, woah, woah that last scene was you trying to eat Shiro."

"Yes."

"And you just expect me to go home after that, without giving me any kind of explanation."

"I figured I had explained plenty enough," Mephisto sighed, "but yes, this is the end of our journey."

"No." Rin pushed his chair back from the table, standing as he pointed towards Mephisto accusatorially, "No. I trusted you when I agreed to come to the past because last time I got real answers. It was convoluted as all hell and you took your sweet fucking time with it, but I got answers. Now show me what you’re hiding so I can figure this out or better yet, just tell me."

"Tell you what, Rin?" Mephisto asked, his stand mirroring the younger demon's own as he drew himself up to full height. "Tell you that I’m a demon? Tell you I have violent tendencies, that I’ve hurt people you supposedly love?"

"No! That you do love, that you've lost people, that’s what I want to know about. Not about how you lash out and then pretend it’s fine because you're a demon."

Mephisto growled, "I don’t love. That’s the point."

"Ugh!" Rin threw his hands up, "You're impossible!"

"I am that’s wh-'' Mephisto stopped short, his face contorting in pain. He reached for his chest, hand balling to a fist in the material, claws shredding the delicate and expensive fabric of his shirt. That’s what really clued Rin in that something was wrong, very wrong. Even at his worst Mephisto took his clothes seriously, watching him rip into his top without hesitation brought Rin rushing around to the other side of the table.

"Mephisto what’s going on?" He asked, hands hovering unsurely in the air between them as Mephisto leaned heavily on his free hand which was propped against the table.

"A-Amaimon he-" Mephisto's legs gave out, sending him crashing to the floor. Rin crouched beside him, this time not hesitating to place his hand on Mephisto's shoulder. "We need to get back to the present now, my host can’t take much more time traveling."

Despite their argument Rin nodded, he wanted Mephisto to tell him what was going on, why he wouldn’t admit he could love and why he refused to claim him. However, making sure Mephisto's host survived was imperative to the wellbeing of the world. Losing him would greatly weaken the True Cross' defenses against the Illuminati. They could argue later. "Okay, lets go."

Mephisto grabbed his wrist to make sure Rin held on, lifting his other hand away from his chest in a shaky movement to snap, but just as he did another wave of pain washed over him, face contorting once again.

His snap rang out in the air around them as reality warped, Rin's body bending with the time travel, feeling like he was being stretched out and tossed around. He grabbed on tight to Mephisto's body, worried he’d get torn apart like he had been when they'd fought. He closed his eyes, tumbling through who knew what, time bending around them in a way that made him feel sick to his stomach.

They appeared in midair, thrown through the sky and crashing into a field of yellow-green grass. Rin's body ached as he spun out into the blinding sunlight, losing his grip on Mephisto in the fall. His head pounded, deep scrapes from the fall on his arms already starting to heal as he sat up groggily. His vision swam and he held out his fingers in front of him, "One, two, three..." did counting fingers to check for a concussion work if they were your fingers?

"Mephisto, Gott, was ist mit dir passiert?”

Rin’s ears perked and his head snapped up at the sound of a voice and someone rushing over to Mephisto's limp body, surprised that he had passed out along the way. That must have been why they ended up in midair. He shoved the unknown person away defensively, baring his fangs as he did, his instincts pushing him to defend his injured loved one even when said loved one didn’t want to love him back, "Get away from him!"

The man tilted his head in confusion, holding his hands up in a universal sign of surrender, “Beruhige dich, ich werde ihn nicht verletzen.”

Rin paused, confusion filling him, his fangs still exposed, unsure of who this man was and what he wanted, “What?”

A frown formed on the man’s lips, “Sprichst du Englisch?”

Despite not knowing what the man was saying Rin managed to pick up one word, “English?” He asked, trying to remember his lessons from school. Now was one of the few times when he wished he’d paid more attention to his teachers, “I can speak English.”

The man smiled, “That’s good, I was saying I’m not going to hurt him, I’m a friend of his." He said kneeling down in front of Rin, "You’re a demon too, aren’t you."

Rin narrowed his eyes, he may have said he was Mephisto’s friend, but he wasn’t about to trust him so quickly especially when he knew they were demons. "So what?"

"Well, I’ve never met you is all and the clothes he’s wearing don’t seem from now. Not to mention he was passed out drunk on the couch when I went to the market. This is a Mephisto from the future."

Rin looked down at Mephisto then back at the man, "Oh shit." They’d gone back in time, not forward and they’d probably just messed up the timeline by being noticed. He reached back, grabbing Mephisto's arm and slinging him over his shoulder to try and run away quickly. The less damage they did the better which meant getting away to a more secluded spot.

"You don’t have to run off." The man chuckled, holding his hand out for Rin to take. "I’m Henry Faust, a good friend of Samael's. I know all about his time traveling powers so talking to me won’t mess up the timeline."

Rin's eyes widened, "You're Faust?"

"Well most people call me Henry, but yes." He smiled, "That idiot told you much about me?"

Rin couldn’t help but smile too now, it was nice to hear someone call Mephisto an idiot after all the bullshit the demon had put him through. "A bit, though I mostly know you because he goes by your last name sometimes."

Henry took Mephisto's other arm, helping Rin lift him up and ruffling the time king's hair until it was all messed up, "Aw that's sweet, he’s always been sentimental like that." He laughed, gesturing across the field to a nearby gravel road where a horse drawn cart stood, "Come on let’s get him to my place, he looks like he’s been through some things. His host isn’t looking so good."

"Sentimental?" That didn’t sound like the Mephisto he knew, but Henry was right, Mephisto's host wasn’t in good shape. He walked with Henry over to the cart, laying Mephisto down in the back of the wood cart next to a few bushels of food and climbing in to sit beside him.

"Oh yeah, big on the nostalgia this one." Henry said, climbing into the front and snapping the reins so the horse would go, setting a steady pace back to his home before turning to look at him from the corner of his eye "So, who are you?"

Rin had expected the question, but he wasn’t quite sure how to answer. Faust has existed before Satan had gained an ego or body, "I’m well...I’m kind of his brother."

"Oh! A demon king!" Henry said excitedly, "I've only met Amaimon and Beelzebub, which one are you?"

"I don’t exactly exist yet." He said, brushing his fingers through Mephisto's hair.

"A new ego, that’s fascinating!" Henry said as he turned his attention back to the road, "Can I ask your name, it doesn’t have to be your real one I know how you demons are."

"It’s Rin, and I’m not exactly a new ego. I’m the son of Satan's ego, and since they call him their father they sometimes call me their brother, or young prince, Astaroth's called me that before." He clarified, watching at the fields and forests around them became fenced in farmlands. "I guess I’m mostly like his boyfriend?"

"I’d wondered if Satan was ever going to get a body, the Catholic Church is constantly yapping about him." Henry reached back into the carriage and grabbed an apple, biting into it and speaking with his mouth full, "You don’t sound too sure about that boyfriend part."

"We’re not doing too great, to be honest."

Henry nodded solemnly, "He can be a bastard. As a fellow 'Samael's boyfriend' I feel your pain."

At his words Rin practically wanted to leap into the front seat beside Faust. "Finally! Someone who gets it!" He waved his hands in front of him, "I asked him to claim me the other day and he’s acting like it’s the end of the world and is all secretive and when I snapped and kicked his ass he agreed to show me why he’s acting so stupid and then he doesn’t actually give me any answers!"

"Samael give answers? Oh no, no, no. It’s not in his cards a majority of the time. It’s like pulling a horse's teeth getting him to give a straight response."

"Exactly!" Rin ran his hands through his hair in a frenzied, stress, yet excited manner, expressing both his frustration at Mephisto and his relief at finding another human to relate to. He loved Amaimon and a majority of the time the comfort he gave was sufficient, but after all Mephisto had done recently and all he’d seen having a human to relate to meant the world to him. He would have to give Sheimi an extra big hug when he got back to the present, he hadn’t been grateful enough towards her and her way of letting him talk things out lately.

Henry laughed again, his head falling back a touch with the motion, "He's always been a huge handful. How does he rope us into it?" He joked as the farms around them became a few houses here and there and from a distance Rin could see an odd looking house on a hill, knowing without asking that that was where they'd be going. "So, how'd you end up here? His host is extremely damaged and I don’t think paying me a visit was in the plans for you two."

"It wasn’t. He was trying to teleport us back to our time, but something happened to his host and he passed out mid teleportation." Rin said, lowering his hands from his hair and looking down at them. "He said something about Amaimon while his host was freaking out...I don’t know what he meant though," Guilt tugged at Rin's heart, his stomach lurching with the cart as they arrived at the odd looking house on the hill, "it’s probably my fault, I got in a physical fight with him the other night and it strained him a lot." His mind flashed back to Mephisto's torn body, the way he had ripped his horn straight from his head.

Henry jumped down from his seat and began to unhook his horse from the buggy, "He shouldn’t have let his host get that bad in the first place." He said, tone reassuring, "Though it is interesting to hear that you can go toe to toe with him, he’s very strong as I’m sure you know. Would you mind if I studied you in my lab a bit? I’m a demonologist, I’d love to get a read on your power levels."

The suggestion of a lab didn’t sit well with him. He’d seen what demon labs in section thirteen looked like and he wasn’t eager to go anywhere near one. "I’d rather not." He said, picking Mephisto up and jumping down from the buggy as Faust led his horse to the nearby stable.

"Suit yourself," Henry shrugged, "Just don’t come complaining to me when my Mephisto asks you a million questions the tests could answer, he’s insatiable."

Two Mephistos. Rin swallowed, he was having enough problems with just one. What would it be like to have two cooped up in the same house together? Unfortunately, he didn’t have a choice about finding out, following Henry inside.

"Mephisto get your lazy ass up!" Henry yelled at a strewn out time king, his body stretched over a couch like he was melting onto a floor. He had one arm tossed over his face.

"I’ve got a hangover, Henry, stop yelling." He groaned, tail flicking languidly in the air, something that shocked Rin greatly considering how he preached near constantly about how a gentleman always tucked his tail away.

"I’m well aware, my wine cellar is decimated." Henry huffed, taking off his coat and setting by a stand on the door as Rin walked into the room fully, shutting the front door behind him, "We've got guests you know."

"It better not be Wagner."

"It’s not, but if it were that would have been quite rude."

"I want to set him on fire again."

Henry pressed his hand to his face, pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. "Could you please stop setting things on fire or transporting people to alternate dimensions, Samael?"

The past Mephisto opened his mouth to speak again, to give some sort of witty comeback or other, but he was cut short by Rin's laughter, the bright sound pushing from him as he doubled over. He’d never seen Mephisto like this, his attitude almost like Amaimon's as he joked about violence all while whining about his hangover. This Mephisto was far from gentlemanly or composed. He looked like he hadn’t bathed, like he hadn’t slept in a bed in days. His hair was messy and his clothes were wrinkled. His is tail was knotted for once. Knotted! He looked and acted like what Rin might imagine a teenage time king to act like. Fussy and prone to snapping people into the cold vacuum of space.

The time king removed his arms from his face, gaze locking on him as he laughed, "Oh look you brought another me and," he took a sharp breath, his pupils slivering as he rolled over before appearing in front of Rin without a snap or pretense of human behavior whatsoever, "a very interesting item." He took Rin's chin in his hands, an instinctive growl rising to Rin's lips at the action, "He smells like Gehenna."

"Yes apparently he's from the future, after the ego of Gehenna, Satan, has fully formed. He's Satan's nephilim."

Mephistopheles' eye’s widened, "We have to run tests! There's no way Satan could have held a body long enough to consummate a relationship. He’d be even more powerful than Lucifer." He let go of Rin's chin only to grab at his wrist, tugging him into the house. Henry gave a sheepish, apologetic smile as Mephisto began to ramble. "How much of his power do you have? You don’t seem to be in a host, how do you heal? Can your human body take your power? Do you have a true form? Do you have a demonic heart?" He continued to ramble as he led Rin deeper and deeper into the house, talking until the first hints of a headache burned in Rin's forehead and he ripped his hand away, aggravated.

"Can we talk about all that later? Samael is hurt and I should lay him down." He pointed out. Mephistopheles looking back at him with barely suppressed annoyance.

"So I went and messed up my host, that's future me's fault."

Henry put his hand on Rin's shoulder, "I've got a guest room the two of you can stay in. Then Meph can talk your ears off."

"Thanks." Rin said, walking behind Henry and around Mephistopheles to go to the guest room. He settled Samael on the bed, laying his limp body down with a frown. "I hope he wakes up soon. He said his host couldn’t take much more time travel."

"Mephisto can send you back home once he stabilizes I’m sure."

Mephisto nodded, "I don’t know why I let it get that bad, but I can get you to whenever you’re going. One condition though," he grinned, his smirk only growing as Rin flared up at him, "You let us run tests on you, you're much too fascinating for me to just let you slip away."

Rin groaned, waving his hand, "Fine whatever."

"Annoying isn’t he." Henry said, leading them back out of the room and glassed domed laboratory space, Rin giving Samael one last look as the bedroom door closed behind them.

"Extremely." Rin agreed as Mephisto prowled behind him, his presence more disarming that Rin was used to in everyday interactions, not bothering to keep his usual 'human' mask on.

"Rin here is a boyfriend of yours in the future." Henry explained as Mephisto face pinched in an aggravated expression Rin was intimately familiar with.

"Of course he is, I've got impeccable taste, my dear." Mephisto purred, coming up behind Henry and snapping himself clean, his hair smoothing out as a fresh set of clothing appeared on his body and he finally got to looking like the Mephisto Rin was used to. He nuzzled into Henry's neck, nipping possessively to bring a dark flush to Henry's cheeks. "Although, I’m unsure why I haven’t claimed him yet. I could fix that for you, Rin~"

Rin grimaced, "No thanks...I’d rather get it from him once he figures out he’s being an idiot."

"With as thick headed as you are that might take some time."

"I am not thick headed." Mephisto protested, but both Rin and Henry knew that was a lie. "Now, let’s run those tests, shall we?"

"Let’s get it over with." Rin sighed, looking around the lab for what he would consider laboratory gear.

"There’s no need to worry, Rin." Henry reassured as he took him gently by the hand and led him to the center of the room, Mephisto waving his hand to clear a few stray piles of books, revealing what looked like a summoning circle underneath.

Rin made a noncommittal noise, feeling worry weasel it’s way up his spine.

"His heart is beating a mile a minute." Mephisto hummed as he plucked a few very odd looking items from a nearby shelf.

Henry tilted his head, "What’s got you all wound up?" He asked, taking one of Mephisto's offered items.

"I've been in a demon laboratory before, it wasn’t...pleasant." Rin admitted, thinking of all the clones in section thirteen, the underground day cares, the tests that had been run on so many people, Shiro included. "It was yours." He added, side eyeing Mephisto.

"Well at least I know my research works later." Mephisto said, using his magic lift water from nearby vials into the air and fill in the carved out demon summoning circle.

"It doesn’t hurt." Henry reassured as the water began to glow a bright yellow, moving like molten gold through the complicated symbols surrounding Rin. He placed several stones around the circle, Mephisto's magic reaching up around the crystals and causing them to glow and hum with a low energy. "Can you show us a bit of your power?"

Rin held out his hand, letting a small flame form in his palm. A light purple crystal lighting up further, the sound of its hum growing. Henry had been right, the magic didn’t hurt and Rin managed to smile as he let his flame grow hotter, watching as the crystals color changed to green, yellow, and then red. "What is it doing?"

"It’s reading your power outputs," Henry explained, writing some information down on a roll of paper. "Green is low level, yellow is mid level, and red is high."

"Why did it read green first?" Rin asked, knowing that his power hadn’t fluctuated, not really anyway.

"We're still working out the kinks, we can only read an attack, not the innate power level." Henry said, catching drift and stepping over to him. "You can change the power of your flames at will, from low harm, to incredibly damaging, that’s what this test shows."

Rin looked at his flame, watching it shrink and then thinking about the bright blue washing harmlessly over his friends and fellow exorcists when he'd fought the impure king. The crystal below him flickered and dulled back to its original purple, a response that drew a gasp from Henry.

"He can make his flames harmless." Mephisto said, the expression in his eyes almost greedy as he moved to stalk forward, Henry stopping him with a raised hand, a wordless exchange that Rin couldn’t quite catch moving between them as their gazes met.

Henry stepped into the circle, walking around Rin in a way that made his instincts flare to life. He stopped behind Rin's back, leaning forward to speak directly into his ear. "Mind if I do physical examination, while Meph asks his questions?.

A strong shiver ran down Rin's spine, starting at the goosebumps Henry's breath rose on the back of his neck. "Is that really necessary?"

"Oh absolutely." Mephisto reassured, but his tone was one Rin found all too familiar.

Before he could protest though Henry's hand found his tail, fingers running down it the wrong way to draw a stuttered moan from his lips. "Looks like it works just like yours, Meph." Henry hummed and Rin could hear the tease in his voice, knowing there was a smirk on his lips without having to tilt his head back to look at him.

"Now Henry, you know more than one test is necessary to make sure." Mephisto purred, sitting against a desk. "Think you can do that again."

"Of course." Henry stroked Rin's tail again, pleasure coiling in Rin's stomach. "Can we keep going?" He asked, a hand coming to slip his fingers under Rin's shirt.

"If he wants you to stop he'll make you, he’s plenty strong enough." Mephisto laughed, his own tail waving in the air before he catch it with his hand, giving it a self indulgent tug that brought a deep blush to Rin's cheeks

"It’s still polite to ask," Henry said, lips ghosting across Rin's neck as his fingers continued to explore Rin's chest, caressing his stomach which tensed and flexed under the soft touch. "I apologize for his rudeness."

"It’s okay," Rin breathed, his tail twitching in a silent plea for another touch, which Henry was quick to provide.

"While Henry does his physical exam you'll have to pay close attention to my questions, okay?" Mephisto asked, Rin nodding in understanding, "Good, now, how quickly do you heal from attacks?" As he asked he flicked his fingers towards Rin, the young demon's shirt disappearing, causing him to gasp at the sudden exposure to the air.

"As fast as you." Rin said, the glow in Mephisto’s eyes as he watched Henry run his blunt nails hard down his chest was hypnotic, red blooming under the scratches only to heal in an instant. The pain was a far cry from what Mephisto and Amaimon's talons could do, but the light pain of it only served as a tease when paired with the continued strokes Henry placed to Rin's tail.

"I see your horns haven’t fully grown in yet, are they sensitive?"

Henry took the cue to remove his hand from Rin's chest to brush the hair from his forehead, pads of his fingers caressing the nubs of his horns and when Rin didn’t get defensive or move away he rubbed them in a smooth circling motion that had his eyes shuttering with a groan. Samael and Amaimon didn’t mess with his horns too often and Henry's touch was just right. It was interesting to be touched by a human at all, his instincts calm as Henry posed absolutely no true threat. Normally Samael or Amaimon touching him there made him wary, instincts demanding he stay attentive in the presence of their power, but Henry was so weak in comparison that Rin relaxed into the touch.

The man gave of no prey signals, luring Rin into a calm he hadn’t felt in a long time. Despite his affections for Samael and Amaimon he was always aware of their strength and his friends and Yukio were always aware of him as well. The only person who could set aside all base human fear was Sheimi and he was starting to wonder if he should ask her for a horn massage. It was definitely worth it.

He let his head fall back against the older man's shoulder, groaning as he did. Henry continued his steady ministrations on his tail, the attention relaxing the stress from Rin's shoulders. God he’d needed this after all Samael's bullshit.

"Rin." Mephisto's voice cut through the fog of pleasure, "Pay attention to me." He snapped his fingers and Rin’s head was yanked back up, forcing his attention back on him. "Your horns should have already grown in, why haven’t then?"

"You sealed my powers away when I was born." Rin admitted, a particularly pleasurable stroke across his horns his reward from Henry.

"You're newly unsealed then?"

"Yes."

"And you survived having the entire power of Gehenna come rushing back to you?"

Rin remembered the burning of his unsealing, his blistering, charring skin. He remembered how scared he’d been when he'd watched his sword shatter, how betrayed he’d felt. "Yes."

"Sore spot?" Henry asked gently, pressing a tail of kisses along Rin's neck and shoulders. Rin nodded, watching as Mephisto's eyes narrowed for a moment, then relaxed. "How about you ask some more interesting questions, Mephisto?"

"Gladly~" Mephisto agreed, his tail coiling over on itself to create a circle and then curling back in a motion Rin found incredibly beautiful? He’d seen the time king do it before, but it wasn’t something he saw often and cherished when he did, "How are you liking the attention?"

Rin shivered, "It’s...It's good."

"Just good? Mm, Henry I think you'll need to put in a bit more effort."

Nails dug into Rin's tail as Henry gave it a sharp, unexpected tug. "Ah!" Rin cried, his hips bucking involuntarily, feeling the wetness pre-cum left in his boxers.

"Hard yet?"

"You already know the answer to that one," Henry chuckled, palming Rin through his pants, making him whine as his horns were neglected even though the pressure against his length was intoxicating.

"Nothing wrong with asking questions I know the answer too, I’m just being thorough."

"If you wanted to be thorough you’d ask to see the evidence." Henry said, toying with the button on Rin's jeans.

"A wonderful idea." Mephisto smiled, Rin's pants and underwear disappearing in the next moment, Henry finally stroking him properly.

His knees wanted to turn to jelly, but a tug at his tail quietly commanded him to stay standing. Henry's fingers toyed at the base, scratching through the short hairs, making his cock twitch in the man's hand. Fingers smeared the pre-cum dripping from his slit, using it as lube to stroke faster, a soft panted breath escaping him at the feeling. A blush burned up to the tips of his ears as he stared at Mephisto, embraced at how quickly Henry had him approaching his finish. Mephisto seemed to read his mind, a gentle electric pressure coiling around Rin's horns, "Mephisto..." he whined, teeth gritting at the feeling.

Another tug came out of the blue, the pressure on his horns spiking to near pain. Rin cried out, his eyes tearing away from the time king's gaze to look down at himself as he came, finish smearing against Henry's fingers as he moaned, tail lashing behind him.

Mephisto approached as Rin's mind spun from his orgasm, Henry lifting his fingers in offering. Mephisto's tongue darted between his lips, cleaning Rin's cum away with a moan, "He tastes lovely." He purred, moving to reach out for Rin, but the younger demon was already turning around, clenching his hands hard Henry's shirt.

The man looked down at him stunned, but still no prey signals escaped him. It didn’t matter though, Rin wasn’t looking for prey in that sense, intent instead on paying Henry back for his sexual teasings. He pushed Henry out of the circle and against a bookshelf, a hungry growl crawling its way up his throat as he move one of his hands down and dragged his nails across Henry's chest.

Red bloomed under the white of his shirt, Rin's claws shredding through the fabric and pulling a pained cry from Henry. A hand appeared around Rin's wrist in an instant, the younger demon baring his fangs angrily as he turned to face Mephisto who simply smiled.

"That’s a nasty wound you just gave him, it’s going to leave quite the mashou." He murmured.

Rin's eyes widened as his senses came back to him fully, "Oh fuck," he turned back to Henry, "I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, it’s just I’ve never done this with a human." He tried to explain, the word human sounding so peculiar on his tongue. To separate himself so fully from Henry as to call him another species entirely, the species he had grown up as, felt weird to him, but what else was there to say?

Henry laughed, stroking his thumb over Rin's cheek, "You've shown excellent restraint then, Mephisto can fix the cuts, don’t worry about them." He leaned in close to place a soft, light kiss to Rin's lips, "He should still restrain you though."

The pressure on Rin's wrist increased and with a snap he found himself pressed into a mattress. His hands were lifted above his head and tied to the banister with the familiar buzz of Mephisto's magic. Henry was poised fully naked above him, grinning widely as Mephisto settled behind him, rutting against his back. "Gonna let us both have you?" He murmured into Henry's ear, letting his claim flair to life around the man.

Rin wanted to turn his eyes away, suppress the part of his instinct that could see that invisible glow. Here was another human Mephisto was willing to claim, willing to mark as his own. Was it something wrong with Rin himself? Was that what Samael was trying to tell him, that he’d claimed others but he just really didn’t want Rin.

That explanation didn’t make sense, it was too simple an explanation and not something Mephisto would hide from him. He had tried to make it seem that way at first back in his office, but he had plenty of evidence against that reasoning. Still, in his hurt mind it was an easy fall back.

"My offer still stands, I can claim you." Mephisto murmured, stroking Henry in front of him, his touch soft, possessive, and everything Rin wanted.

"No." He shook his head, "I want it from you as you are to me, not as you used to be."

Henry ran his hands over Rin's chest, "I hope your Mephisto stops being stubborn, I think you're lovely." He hummed, a small gasp leaving him as Mephisto moved to stretch him in preparation.

"You and me both," Rin grumbled, his mood shifting back to the matter at hand as Henry reached back, taking his length in hand and stroking him back to full hardness, Rin squirming at the over stimulation.

"Let’s focus on this," Mephisto said, pressing a kiss against Henry's neck and wrapping his tail around Rin’s, twisting them up into a tight coil. "Ready?"

Henry nodded, carefully lowering himself onto Rin's cock, the young demon letting out a slow hiss of pleasure at the warmth and pressure that enveloped him. Henry took a moment to adjust and Rin marveled up at him. Usually Samael and Amaimon began to move their hips immediately, riding him hard and fast from the get go and when they weren’t it was a purposeful tease to go slow. Henry though truly needed a moment to catch his breath, red lacing it’s way down his cheeks and over his chest, accentuating Rin's claw marks. His legs shuddered a bit, a small tremor going through him at the ache and stretch.

He looked fragile.

Rin wanted to reach his hands out and soothe his fingers over Henry's hips. Mephisto seemed to have read his mind, hands caressing down Henry's sides in a slow glide.

"The first controlled time with a human is rather interesting." Mephisto said, placing more kisses along Henry's neck and shoulders, "They really are quite fragile, easy to break if you aren’t used to them." He lifted a hand from Henry's hip, tilting his head back to expose his neck to Rin. He could practically hear the blood rushing through his veins, jaws aching to latch into the offered skin.

A low growl escaped him, lashing his tail upward, dragging Mephisto's tail with it. He bit into the twined appendages, drawing moans from the both of them as Henry finally began to move, riding Rin in a steady motion.

Mephisto stroked him in time, fingers digging into Henry's neck until the man choked, a stuttered moan escaping him as he bounced. "Ready for more?"

"Please." Henry panted, breath straining against Mephisto's fingers, his eyes closing tight, Rin watching close as his tongue darted across his lips.

Rin felt it as Mephisto nudged the blunt head of his cock against Henry's already filled entrance, sliding against his buried length. Henry doubled over in his lap, collapsing on top of Rin. His arms framed the young demon's head, his face burying itself in Rin's neck, a barely contained whimper ghosting along his lips. Henry had started to tremble again and since Rin couldn’t move his hands to wrap his arms around him as Mephisto slowly sheathed himself he instead moved both their tails to tangle around the man's waist. It was a small comfort, one he could tell Henry was grateful for as he placed gentle, breathless kisses to Rin's neck. Rin could hear and feel his jack rabbit heart where their chests touched, yet another reminder of how fragile he was.

Mephisto moved slower than Rin had ever seen him, the care with which he treated Henry almost reverent in nature. His hands rubbed more circles on his hips, waiting for Henry to nod before starting to move faster.

Henry moaned low and deep in Rin's ear, the sound going right to his dick as Rin echoed his sentiments, starting to thrust in time with Mephisto.

It was fascinating, in a soft sort of way, controlling his movements as not to hurt Henry. They may have tied his arms, but his legs had been left free, allowing him to thrust freely and even that limited movement could have been strong enough to hurt. He himself could remember several times when he had felt Amaimon and Samael's hips buckle under his onslaught, especially while in heat. The freedom he had been given now was a large extension of trust, something he promised himself he wouldn’t break even as he got closer to his finish.

Nails scrapped against his outer thigh, drawing his attention. Mephisto dragged his claws across his skin, supplying a small bit of pain that made his rhythm stutter, moaning as his eyes met Mephisto's own. "Good boy, Rin. You're doing well."

The praise made Rin's head spin, a purr budding in his chest to rumble against Henry's own. He started to move faster, keeping a close watch on Henry's reactions and feeling the warm glow of satisfaction when he let out a deep, choked moan in response to the new pace.

Mephisto followed along, the two of them setting what for Henry was a rough pace. He reached around, tugging Henry up by his arm to bow his back, giving Rin an excellent view as his free hand moved to stroke the man's cock in a messy jerk.

"Fuck Mephisto..." Henry keened, hips bouncing in desperate jumps, head falling back to yet again expose his throat as he came in a rush across Mephisto's fingers, cum splashing over Rin's stomach and chest.

Warmth rushed around Rin as Henry tightened in his orgasm, Mephisto's own finish filling the man alongside Rin's cock. The sensation was intoxicating, the slick glide of his length in Henry against Mephisto’s spent dick. Rin's head fell against the mattress, eyes rolling back as his back arched cumming hard as his mouth opened in a silent scream.

The moments melted to stuttered thrusts and panted gasps, all three of them trying to catch their breaths. Mephisto nuzzled Henry's neck, his claim yet again glowing in a possessive glint across Rin's senses. For just a moment he allowed himself to imagine what it might be like to have a claim of his own as the warm afternoon sun drifted in through the windows, catching dust motes in the air. It was cozy against the bedsheets and before he could stop himself he was yawning, wanting to snuggle up and fall asleep. It was a desire Mephisto was willing to grant, letting his arms go as Henry pulled away from both of them to flop over beside him.

Mephisto laughed as he watched the two of them close their eyes, "You can’t sleep yet I need to heal your cuts."

Henry mumbled something that not even Rin could hear and he pouted in a way that felt all too familiar as Mephisto let go of his current host to slip so briefly into Henry that his host didn’t even need to be magically put to sleep. Yet, those few moments were all Rin needed to see something he hadn’t put together yet.

Green eyes peered from Faust’s face to give him a quick smile that Rin knew so intimately from the Samael passed out in the guest room across the hall.

Henry may have died, but Mephisto had never let him go. He held onto Faust’s body even when he couldn’t take his demonic presence anymore, Henry rotting away around him and leaving the time king too weak to even time travel anymore.

Rin was starting to understand what Henry had meant when he’d said Samael was sentimental.

* * *

Rin awoke a few hours later, having fallen asleep beside Henry once Mephisto had left his body. His stomach growled and when he looked out the window he figured it must have been around dinner time.

It had been a nice nap, wrapped up in the warm sun heated blankets. The room smelled like air dried laundry and tall, uncut grass in the summer, something Rin took a long time to soak in. It was a moment that could be bottled up and sold as a candle at the fancy stores Mephisto liked, or painted onto a thick, white cloth canvas. Despite everything that had led to him being there, Rin enjoyed himself.

A small hum claimed his attention a few moments later, Henry smiling when he looked down at him, "You look happy.”

"It’s peaceful," Rin said, trying to remember the last time he’d gotten to truly relax and bask in a moment. It was a rare treat.

"We should get to dinner." Henry hummed, sitting up and stretching, "Not to disturb you or anything."

"Oh no it’s okay," Rin reassured him, his stomach growling loudly to echo his sentiments.

Henry slid his legs off the bed and walked over to a cabinet, pulling out a set of clothes which he tugged on loosely before handing a set to Rin as well. "I’ve had a roast going all day so dinner is ready when you are." With that he left Rin to dress, the door closing softly behind him.

Rin pulled on the loose, slightly puffy white shirt and the light brown pants that went just below his knees. It wasn’t an outfit he would have picked out for himself, but it did make his ass look nice, Rin taking a self indulgent second to look at himself in the mirror, deciding it would be nice to leave his tail out.

He made his way back through the large house, following the smell of cooking food. He found Henry and the two Mephisto’s sitting in front of a fire, lounging on a comfortable looking couch and some chairs.

Henry smiled at him as he entered the room, "Time for dinner, then!" He said, moving towards the fire and pulling the top off a cast iron pot suspended over the fire. He began to serve them on a nice set of plates, piling a roast of pork, red potatoes, carrots, and onions onto them in hearty servings. He gave his Mephisto the food first, the time king’s face lighting up as Henry also handed him a bowl of butter which he immediately began spooning onto his food. Henry gave Rin's Mephisto food next, Samael bowing his head in quiet appreciation for the food.

The circles under his eyes were deep and dark, Rin longing to reach out and soothe his hand over Samael's arm but unsure if he should. He was still upset at him, but he didn’t want to seem cold, especially when he looked so rough. Rin settled on sitting beside him on the couch, offering up a small smile as Henry handed him his food. He let his leg scoot closer to Samael, brushing up against the time king's thigh gently. Samael tensed for a moment, then relaxed, but said nothing.

Rin decided it was best to pay attention to his food.

The butter came around to him and he gave himself a generous portion, watching as it mixed into his meat and vegetables. He groaned as he bit into the meat, the pork so tender it practically melted on his tongue. His stomach growled it’s appreciation and he was more than eager to tuck in fully, eating so fast his cheeks ached before handing the plate back to Henry for more.

"Good?"

Rin nodded wordlessly, taking the plate and digging in yet again. He ate until he was full and then some, laying back against the couch as Henry and Samael chatted.

"When do you think you'll be up to travel back to your time, Samael?" The man asked, picking up Mephisto’s plate.

"Tomorrow should be good." Samael said with a quick nod, his stiffness drawing a soft laugh from Henry.

"Not going to visit for a little while, old friend?" He asked jokingly, though Rin picked up on the small bit of worry and pain in his gaze. If Samael saw it too then he didn’t say anything, but before Rin could think about Henry's expression any further a hand tapped his arm.

He looked to his side, looking into Mephisto's familiar gaze as the demon's pupils narrowed to slivers, "I want to test your power levels."

"I thought you already did?" Rin said as he thought back to the laboratory and the crystals on the ground, though, that seemed like more of just an excuse to get into his pants, which was okay. It had been fun.

"Well yes, but the system is currently rudimentary, a better test would be a fight."

Rin's brain disconnected from the rest of him, mouth dropping open stupidly for a moment as he blinked at Mephisto. "A f-fight?" As in a play fight? A fight where they could both use their powers and throw worry to the wind, let their instincts take over and just have fun. He had never fought with Samael, he had never even offered. The only time he’d come close was when he’d almost killed him after finding him by Shiro's grave and that didn’t count because he’d gone berserk and couldn’t remember ninety percent of it.

"There’s a field behind the house." Mephsito's voice was controlled, but his gaze was intent and Rin could see how his tail trembled with excitement beneath his shirt.

"Sure, yeah, I could fight." Rin responded after a brief moment, unsure of how to put his agreement in more eloquent terms since Mephisto had short circuited his front brain and admittedly a good part of his hind brain as well.

Mephisto shot up, appearing at the door to the house in an instant, "Henry, I’m fighting Rin."

"Want me to watch?"

"Yes!" He sounded both agitated and excited, a slight bounce going through him to send him rocking on his heels before he calmed himself. It was interesting to see him acting so relaxed, to watch him put aside his usual stiff demeanor and act almost like Amaimon. The only time Rin ever saw him get this excited was when his favorite manga updated.

He followed Mephisto out of the house and into the back yard, Henry and Samael walking behind them, bodies pressed close together in a quiet gesture of affection. He looked back at them for a moment, watched Samael's fingers twitch in a ghost of a question against Henry's hand, the man answering him to lace their fingers together. The glow of Mephisto's claim on Henry strengthened as they walked, like sunlight pouring over a mountain range in an orange, yellow caress.

Samael looked so sad.

He looked down at the grass, his ears lowered, hair disheveled, and his shoulders sagged. Rin had never seen him so bare, so close to crumbling into quiet tears. He wanted to ask what was wrong, but a hand wrapped eager around his own and Henry's head found Samael's shoulder.

The pair settled on the last step leading up to the back porch and Rin turned back to face his opponent who let go of his hand to smile at him. "Use your flames, okay?"

Rin nodded and by the time he did Mephisto was on the other side of the field. There was no green light, no go, but Rin's instincts knew well enough that the game had begun, his body tensing.

Mephisto made the first move, summoning large spikes to appear from the ground. Rin jumped back, dodging out of their ways while making sure to keep an eye on his opponent who had begun running towards him. However, before he could respond the world shifted beneath him and he lost balance, starting to float up into the air. The spikes around him did the same, tugging from the ground to rise into the air, large chunks of dirt caught under them as Mephisto pressed onwards. He lept into the air, feet pushing off from a suspended spike, jumping from one weapon to the next until he was above Rin. "Like this?" He asked as he aimed downwards, spinning in a tight circle until his foot collided with Rin's face, sending him spiraling downward. Mephisto didn’t let him hit the ground, jumping to another spike until he kicked him again, this time sending him rocketing sideways. "Amaimon taught me it, how to turn off earth's gravity in select areas."

Rin's eyes widened as he slammed into a spike. Of course Mephisto could mess with earth's gravity, Amaimon may have been the king of earth, but earth was part of space. Staring down at Mephisto’s smug grin, an important fact he hadn’t quite grasped before clicked in his mind, space was part of everything. While Mephisto had an insane amount of brute strength, it wasn’t his calling card. His play style focused on versatility and adaptation, picking up techniques from other kings, other elements. He could throw anything and everything at Rin.

The prospect had Rin grinning as well as he gathered his legs under him to push back against the floating spike in the same manner Mephisto had, launching himself forward. It was time to get creative.

Mephisto was ready for him, dodging left in midair, but It wasn’t going to be that easy. Amaimon would almost always take a hit head on, but Rin knew enough about Mephisto despite never having fought him for fun to know that he would dodge. Fire sparked to life in his hand, shooting his towards Mephisto.

They ricocheted around the makeshift arena, kicking off spikes and tumbling through the air. It didn’t look like much was happening as they danced around each other, but if Mephisto could learn from other's then so could Rin.

He slowly kicked the floating spikes into place, watching how Mephisto dodged and setting up a minefield. He just needed one more opening. It was almost impossible to keep a poker face as he found the moment he’d been waiting for. Mephisto dodged him again and appeared in the middle of the arena, Rin predicting his move and grabbing a spike. He hit the spike closest to him with it like a base ball, the object flying through the air to collide with another.

A chain reaction kicked off, the spikes hitting one another, sending a few spinning at Mephisto from where Rin had set them up. Mephisto dodged them, something that Rin had seen coming and as he was distracted he leapt up and above the time king, arcing in the air to hit Mephisto with the same kick he had used to kick off their fight, strike enhanced by using his flames to gain speed. He laughed as the hit connected, finally able to end his rouse of not having any plans.

Mephisto grabbed his leg and spun him around clockwise, but he sent a large blast of fire the counter clockwise to knock them off balance and into another spike. Rin tackled Mephisto before he could right himself, only to end up pinned to the ground as gravity came back in a rush, sending the spikes and dirt tumbling back to the earth. Chains appeared to bind him, Mephisto laughing as he was tethered, but Rin wasn’t about to give up, fire rising up around him. The chains melted under the heat, Rin wincing just a touch as the molten metal melted his skin, his teeth grinding together. He wished he could summon things like Mephisto could, the older demon at an incredible advantage when it came to weaponry.

He focused his power, flexing it around him like Mephisto and Amaimon did to convey their prowess, trying to use it alone to shove Mephisto over, but he wasn’t good at it yet. He had used the attack when he’d gone berserk, fighting to remember how it had felt only to find the memories far too muddled to gather any information from.

Snarling, he realized that for now his best bet was his strength and trying to throw whatever Mephisto threw at him right back towards the demon, using the time king's powers creatively. He managed to do as much for a good while, dodging, setting up attacks, baiting Mephisto into moving in predicted ways, but eventually Mephisto pinned him for good. Rin panted as he exposed his neck in surrender, Mephisto’s jaws closing gently around the offering to signify his victory.

Grinning wildly Mephisto sat back on his haunches, letting Rin prop himself up by his elbows, "Have fun?" He asked despite already knowing Rin's answer.

"More than I’ve had in a while," he laughed, not minding that he had lost, after all Mephisto's victory had been fairly assured with his power. Rin may have been able to beat him in the future, but that was only because his host was in poor health and he had lost control.

"We could have more," Mephisto said, leaning in and ghosting his lips against Rin's own, reminding him of all the times he'd fought Amaimon for fun only for their brawl to end in them grinding desperately against one another, sometimes not even bothering to remove their clothes as they sought pleasure. It was a very tempting offer, but-.

"Maybe later, I think it’s a good time to talk to my Samael." Rin said, glancing over at him and Henry who still sat close together, Henry smoothing his hand gently through Samael's hair. "We're fighting and I...I don’t know what to make of it."

"I’ve always been very stubborn," Mephisto supplied and Rin looked back to him, having not really considered asking him for help with, well, himself.

"He won’t claim me, even though I know he wants to."

"Well of course I want to, look at you."

Rin blushed at his words, the blunt compliment making his ears burn despite the questions weighing on his heart, "Well then why won’t he?"

"I’m sure I think I have an important reason." Mephisto said, tilting his head up so he could look at the stars that had come out over the duration of their fight.

"You think you have an important reason?" Rin asked, the wording throwing him a bit.

Mephisto shrugged, "I think a lot, and plan a lot, so if I won’t claim you then there’s a reason and I’ll say it’s important, but that doesn’t mean it is and it doesn’t mean I’m right, it just means I haven’t seen why your way might be better yet." He explained, reaching his hand up into the night as if he could touch the balls of burning gas billions of miles away. "I make connections between things, like," he drug his fingers across the sky, making Rin's eyes follow as he played connect the dots with the stars, "like constellations, I pull back and try to see the big picture," his hand continued to move, drawing the Big Dipper for Rin, summoning a glowing line to track the motions and keep the constellation clear. "But the thing about the big picture is there are a lot of different ways to interpret it," He traced around his constellation, forming Ursa Major out the dipper. "Your image for what needs to happen next is different. This doesn’t make either of you wrong, it just means you need to show each other what you see."

Rin watched as the constellation glowed above him, his chest tightening. "He won’t show me though and I don’t know how to make him," he wanted so badly for what Mephisto said to be as easy as it sounded, a simple trading of ideas but Samael wouldn’t show him how he saw things, "All he does is push me away, he’s shown me terrible things he’s done and he acts like that’s the big picture, but I know it’s not."

Mephisto frowned, going quiet for a long moment, until finally his voice floated from the dark, quiet and almost distant, looking off to the forest that surrounded part of the field and perking his ears to the sounds of the cicadas. "You know, when a star dies it often explodes outwards in a show of light so bright it blocks out the entire sky, it becomes day during the night and you can’t see any other stars at all." He went quiet again and Rin almost growled with frustration, not wanting any more metaphors or cryptic words, but before he could say he was just going to force Samael to talk, Mephisto spoke, "it’s hard to see the big picture when something is wrong, when something blocks the rest of what’s there. I don’t know why I wouldn’t claim you unless something was wrong, unless something was so wrong I couldn’t see what was supposed to happen next."

Something wrong... "Wait!" Rin's gaze snapped over to Samael's and then back to Mephisto's, "I think I have an idea!" He tugged Mephisto down into a quick kiss before pulling himself out from under him. "Thanks!"

He jogged over to the porch, leaving Mephisto to be confused for a short moment behind him before he stood and followed Rin as well, reaching out for Henry with a smile, "Like the show?"

"I think you could have tried a little harder." Henry laughed as he stood from the porch, leaving Samael looking alone against the wood steps. He pressed a kiss to Mephisto’s cheeks, "You looked very handsome."

Mephisto beamed, chest puffing up momentarily, "How about you remind me just how handsome I am," he suggested, "I think Rin here would like to talk to Samael."

"We should leave them to it then," Henry said, dragging Mephisto up the stairs and back into the house with a suggestive look.

They left Samael and Rin alone together in the dark, warm light from inside lanterns washing over the steps. Rin settled beside Samael, staying quiet for a long time and tangling their fingers together despite how stiff the time king felt beside him. "How do you feel?"

"Tired." Samael admitted, Rin catching the ways his eyes dragged over his form as if contemplating what Rin was thinking.

He let Samael look at him for a moment before scooting closer and resting his head on his shoulder in the same way Henry had done, the action making Samael's breath catch in his chest. "It was fun meeting Henry and past you." He started, since his original question hadn’t sparked Samael into a conversation. Though he’d suspected as much. It wasn’t going to be easy to push someone as stubborn as Samael into being open with him.

"I think fun is an understatement, I can smell them on you."

Rin chuckled, "They started it you know, luring me into their lab."

"We used to get a lot of people like that." Samael said, the barest hint of a chuckle in his voice despite the cloud of exhaustion that seemed to hover around him as he spoke.

"He’s different, a lot of him is the same, but he’s looser, more relaxed." Rin murmured, rubbing his thumb over the back of Samael's hand.

"We're very different."

"What changed?"

Minutes ticked by as his question hung in the air between them, fireflies glinting in the trees, darting behind the leaves, the quiet between them somehow natural and oppressive, like living in a dream. Rin closed his eyes for a second, picturing himself sitting on the porch beside Samael in a country he wasn’t familiar with, in a time when he hadn’t been born, alien and alive.

"Everything."

Rin didn’t ask for any more explanation than that, remaining silent and letting Samael mull through his thoughts on his own. Pulling the words out of him by force would do more harm than good.

"He’s my host you know, Faust."

"I know. I lost control and hurt him a bit, you possessed him to heal the cuts and I saw."

"He doesn’t live much longer."

Rin’s eyes widened, lifting his head from Samael's shoulder to look at him. Faust wasn’t very old and seemed in excellent health, "How?"

"He kills himself."

Dread poured down Rin's spine, body stiffening at the image of the happy, warm man ending his own life. "Why?"

"He falls in love with a woman and gets her pregnant. She kills the child after it’s born and is arrested because of it, he tries to break her out of jail, but by the time he arrives she has gone insane and doesn’t recognize him. She gets executed," Samael spoke, voice low and quiet. "I couldn’t convince him not to, couldn’t convince him to stay. I possessed his body and now even it wants to go."

Rin looked down at where their hands met, squeezing Samael's fingers softly as he thought about what that must have been like to watch his friend sink into such a deep depression and remembering how scared he’d been for Yukio. He had spent many nights awake worried for Yukio, waiting in the back of his mind for a call from Mephisto, from Shura, from Sheimi, anyone, saying that Yukio had taken his own life. That fear was debilitating and constant, it lingered in his nightmares and even now that he felt like Yukio was getting better he still felt scared.

Samael continued to speak in a voice somehow even lower than before, speaking more to the wind that mussed through his hair than to Rin. "I can’t hold on much longer, I need a new host. I’ve been injured too much in these past few days. Our fight in the graveyard took more from me than I thought it would and this morning…”

“...Amaimon unclaimed me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this chapter fast because I was very excited for Faust, I love that boy!
> 
> Hope you guys liked ^-^  
> Especially Amaimon’s part~ 
> 
> Get ready for angst.


	9. Everything: Part One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is short.  
> Sorry.  
> Good luck.
> 
> Also check the tags on the fic oof, had to add some stuff.

"...Amaimon unclaimed me."

The words hung stagnant in the air, the world narrowing down to the inches between them. In the trees the insects fell silent, leaving them alone under the too big sky. 

"He..." Rin’s mind spun, a heavy sense of loss filling him despite the fact that he himself had not lost anything. At least not yet, with Amaimon having separated himself from Mephisto there was no telling what he’d do when Rin returned. 

Not days ago the earth king had told him he wouldn’t claim Rin without Mephisto's permission, he didn’t do anything without Mephisto's permission. He had come to Mephisto's rescue, had snarled at Rin and clutched the time king protectively to his chest when he had lost control. 

Amaimon loved Mephisto, Rin had seen it with his own eyes time and time again. He had seen them curl up together on Mephisto's couch and bed, listened to the twin purrs build in their chests as they’d tangle their tails. Shiro had known it too, the two demons were attached to each other and despite how Mephisto tried to claim he didn’t have feelings he had felt them when he’d been possessed. 

Despite Mephisto’s cruelty Amaimon stood steadfast at his side, ready to defend both his horrible actions, and his body in the event of danger. There were moments when the line blurred between servitude and affection, but love was present in their interactions, even the bad ones, to some extent. 

So why would Amaimon unclaim him out of nowhere? 

Rin trembled, muscled tensing under his clothes, "Is he alright?" He asked quietly, trying to think through the logic behind unclaiming Mephisto. The only thing he could think of was that Amaimon might be in danger and didn't want the time king to feel the pain of feeling a claim die. But if he died then his power wouldn’t transfer over to Mephisto, something that they both seemed to place a strong amount of importance on. 

"Yes." Mephisto’s answer was clear and clipped, the pin in a discussion that had hardly begun as he tugged his hand from Rin’s own, crossing his arms over his stomach and chest as he seemed to double over, tensing and scooting away, becoming so small Rin could hardly stand it. 

He was glad that Mephisto was sure of Amaimon's safety, but he wasn’t about to allow Mephisto to push him away again. "Are you okay?"

He could hear Mephisto swallow, the demon drawing a small breath from his nose before forcing himself to straighten and smile, his mouth too wide, pupils too small, "Yes. I’ll be up to travel by morning, my past self will teleport us back."

"That’s not what I meant, Samael."

Samael turned to stone beside him, freezing, the silence deafening between them for so long that Rin thought for a moment that Samael had left his host entirely, fled in every possible way. He half expected Faust's empty body to slump over on the stairs, a shell left to turn to dust against the wood. 

"Samael," Rin pressed as the minutes ticked by, but as Samael still didn’t answer he sighed softly, looking out into the field with unseeing eyes, wishing for a moment that he could appreciate the view and the warm summer air, the scent of honeysuckles being blow in from the forest by a soft breeze. "I talked to your past self, he said he’d claim me. I didn’t let him, I said I wanted you to do it."

Silence met him yet again, Rin not even sure if he was breathing, something that certainly wouldn’t help his degrading body, the quiet between them growing more and more frustrating as it stretched on. Rin could only watch the stars above them shift slowly in place for so long, his body growing tense and agitated, longing for something, anything. 

"He said he couldn’t understand why you wouldn’t, he’s not the only one."

"Take him up on the offer then, go in the house."

Rin's teeth met in an audible click, his hands balling to fists in his lap until the points of his claws pressed into his palms in the barest pricks of pain. He hadn’t even realized they'd lengthened. "No. I want it from you."

"It is me."

"I want it from how you are now." Rin meant that, deeply. He wanted Samael as he had found him, he wanted the parts Samael didn’t want to show, the parts he tucked away and covered in masks. Being claimed by a past Samael wouldn’t be the same because people changed, even demons, and from the looks of it Samael had changed a lot. He wanted to know those changes, to understand them, but Samael was pushing him away at every turn and he was so, so tired. 

"Why?"

"Because I love you!" The answer burst out of him laced with frustration. How could Samael not get this? Hadn’t he shown it enough? Hadn’t he seen enough of Samael's past for the time king to realize there wasn’t a point in lying to him about his feelings anymore. “I love you as you are now.”

"No, you don’t."

Rin snapped, he stood from his seat on the steps and glared down at Samael, fire rising up around him, rolling up and over his legs and arms, teeth needle sharp and aching in his mouth. "I’m tired of you treating me like I’m delusional because of my feelings! I'm tired of you treating Amaimon like crap! I’m sick of it!" He spat, voice just barely below a yell. He wanted to tear his hair out, dig his fingers against his scalp and pull out the strands. Samael had dragged him all over the place to tell him what? Tell him he was an asshole? Well mission accomplished! Good job! Whoop-dee-fucking-doo! "Despite everything, everything, I fell in love with you! Despite you being a piece of shit honest to god asshole I want to be with you!

"You don’t, you can’t."

"I can’t? I can’t!?" Rin snarled, blood dripping through his fingers, no longer caring about holding his claws back. "Fuck you! When are you going to wake up and admit you love us too!? I know you do. Amaimon knows you do. Shiro knew it too! Everyone’s on the same fucking page about this but you, so why can’t you just admit it! 

He was boiling over, he wanted to set the field behind him on fire. He wanted to lose control, go berserk. His worst instincts kicked up in his chest, his demonic self tearing his way to the surface, shredding the backside of his throat in what would have felt like the lump before tears hadn’t there been so much fire pulsing in his veins. 

He wanted to reach out and grab Samael hard, slam him down on the ground and shove a claim of his own into him. 

Samael wouldn’t claim him? Fine! It wasn’t his choice really anyway, Rin was stronger. He could do as he pleased and show Samael who he belonged to. Samael could protest all he wanted, but Rin could pin him down and rip his last horn off if he wanted and oh how he wanted to in the moment. He could tear Samael limb from limb, give him a taste of the medicine he gave to Amaimon. 

Rin could make him scream, make him beg, make him be sorry he’d been foolish enough to deny Rin.

It would be easy. 

That was the last thought he needed.

_It. Would. Be. Easy._

Demon's were possessive creatures. When they wanted something, they would have it, as simple and as clean as that. The desire was straightforward and blunt. As long as they were strong enough what someone else might have wanted was of little concern, obstacles to be tossed aside without a care.

When his sword had broken Rin had wanted nothing more than to let his flames loose, even if it meant burning his friends to death. He had asked them to let him, to let him slaughter them and he would have done it if he hadn’t gained control. He would have burned them alive, dug his teeth into their throats, taken all of them. Completely.

Taking sounded good right now.

He snatched Samael by his front like he wanted, shoved him back against the porch like he wanted, leaned in and set his jaws against Samael's throat like he wanted. 

Samael struggled against him, but it was oh so weak compared to his fight back in the graveyard and to how his past self had fought Rin in the field, his legs kicking under him as he tried to suppress his own fear, knowing it would only lure Rin in further.

"Rin stop, Rin please. Don’t. Don’t. Forcing a claim h-“

"Hurts?" Rin asked, lifting his head just barely from Samael's neck. His struggles were funny in a way, he’d savor them for a moment. His tongue slid greedily over Samael's neck, "You should have thought about that before you told me no."

His power flexed around them, poised and ready to sink into Samael. His fangs brushed Samael's hammering pulse and the scent of his dread pushing him to continue the feeling of his thin skin against his teeth intoxicating, 

"Rin..." Samael tried to push Rin off, but it didn’t do any good. Rin's power had grown exponentially in the air between them, pressing Samael down into the wood until the porch creaked. "Stop!"

"It’s funny how you think you have a choice in this." Rin said, voice saccharine sweet and dangerous. His hand drifted up Samael's shirt, dragging his claws across the skin until the smell of blood stained the air. Samael trembled under him, skin and muscle flexing in a sad attempt to get away, to shrink back, "You belong to me." 

Samael was his. Period. He was tired of the time king denying it, of him pushing back against Rin when he should have given in a time long ago. He should consider it an honor, really, to be claimed by a demon as strong as Rin. Rin was Gehenna itself and as soon as he defected Satan he’d be the strongest being in existence, to deny him what was rightfully his was foolish and something Rin fully intended to correct. 

This was well overdue.

"Amaimon belongs to me too and as soon as we get back I’m going to claim him, whether either of you like it or not." He promised, digging his teeth into Samael's neck, skin shredding apart under his onslaught. 

Samael snarled a hollow threat, the sound making Rin laugh as he licked up the time king's blood. Yet, before he could sink his claim into Samael and set everything straight, as it should be, the smell of fear washed over him. 

It wasn’t Samael's, that scent sharp and familiar. No, this scent was brand new and deliciously sweet, the taste of it washing over his palate. He lifted his head from Samael's neck, taking a deep breath, a purr rising in his throat as he spotted his prey.

Henry stood in the house, behind a thin window pane and despite how well he had suppressed his prey instincts before, they now flared to life. Worry soaked through his gaze, tangible and delicious. He could practically taste the blood on his tongue already. He had never eaten a human before and the way Henry trembled, the soft glow of the lanterns inside the house warm around him, made Rin think it was time he did. 

He’d been tempted when he’d fully awoken, tempted to eat his classmates and friends, but his desire to let his flames run rampant had overwhelmed his hunger. Now though he could think of nothing as good as filling his stomach with the sweet taste of Henry, the man far more desirable as food than he could ever hope to be as a lover. 

He moved to lift himself from Samael, prepared to pounce through the window, but Samael's hand moved to grab his wrist, crushing the bones as a renewed strength poured into him. "Don’t. Not him."

Rin snarled down at Samael, moving to yank his hand away, but the time king wouldn’t budge, his skin stretching, bones clicking as Samael silently threatened to rip his hand off, "Let. Go.”

"No." Samael hissed, his thudding heart stilling, sucking a deep breath into his lungs. "You can’t kill him." 

Rin yanked again, skin ripping before separating entirely, hand falling away and freeing Rin from the time king's grasp. He tore forward, but Samael was quick to dig his claws into him, dragging him back, his aspect bearing down on him even if it was weak. 

"Stop, Rin."

"Why?" He growled, whipping around to kick Samael in the face, his nose snapping, his jaw cracking and shifting unnaturally sideways. "Will it fuck up your stupid timeline?"

There were tears in Samael's eyes as he looked down at him, Rin turning his face from the elder demon's weakness to look back at Faust who still stood petrified beyond the glass. Mephisto appeared behind him, eyes narrowed and cautious as his arms wrapped possessively around Henry, not daring to move any more than that. 

"Please he’s never lost anyone, Rin." 

Samael's words, desperate and quiet, cut through Rin's rage, his desires, and instincts, making him pause for just a moment, the barest hint of a second. He didn’t understand what Samael meant. Henry had never lost anyone? 

He looked back at the time king, tracking his gaze and finding that his eyes met Mephisto's alone. 

He had never lost anyone.

His rage began to die down as questions replaced his anger, but Samael was lifting his hand into the air. 

A snap filled his ears. 

Reality bent, narrowing down to a point, streaking around them in blurred rays before it spat them out on a cold tile floor. They tumbled into the dark, the sounds of beeps, whirling machines, and drips of water filling Rin's ear. 

Samael's body skidded with a wet thud to the floor, blood streaking in a dark stain on the linoleum. 

Rin's head pounded, his wrist hurt, stump bleeding heavily as he groaned. He pressed his forehead against the cold floor, he already knew where he was, the smell clearing his head of his demonic instincts better than any pleading, scared words ever could.

Section thirteen. 

The room glowed with the sick shine of clone vats, the unconscious humans seemed to stare at him even with their eyes closed. He shivered as his instincts quelled, the fires in him burning low. They were still there, the anger present, but buried beneath new information and the old terror of the hidden laboratory. 

Wetness splashed against the floor, the sound off, too thick and sporadic to be water. Rin’s gaze lifted from the ground, his head feeling heavier than stone, landing on where Samael was bent over and drenched in blood and sweet.

His body convulsed, mouth open in what would have been a scream had his stomach not been turning itself inside out inside him. His dinner poured onto the floor, mixed with blood and black oil. His limbs were twisted, bones rending through his skin, muscles and tendons stabbing through in a crimson display. 

He didn’t look real. 

He looked like some horror movie prop, some scare at a haunted house.

Rin’s mind couldn’t wrap around it. 

"Mephisto..." He called quietly, voice raw as he looked across the feet between them which may have well have been an ocean. 

Mephisto looked over at him with glassed over eyes, tears streaking down bloodied cheeks, slumping broken to the ground. 

Guilt and panic spiked through Rin. He had lost control again, not for long, but for long enough. He had tried to force his claim onto Samael, had threatened to do the same to Amaimon, and he’d nearly eaten Henry. Samael had teleported them away before Rin could do any more damage when his body wasn’t ready to teleport at all let alone use his own magic too. 

He was up and running in an instant, anger forgotten entirely now as he came to a skidding stop by Mephisto’s side. He tugged him into his lap with his one good hand, looking him over frantically, shaking, but all Mephisto seemed to be able to do was tremble and bleed. "I’m sorry..." He cried, tears blurring his vision. He’d hurt Mephisto again, endangered him again. 

Why couldn’t he control himself? Why couldn’t he set aside how he’d been hurt and try to deal with things properly, why couldn’t he get it together?

Why did he have to hurt people he loved?

He’d hurt Shiro enough to open him up to Satan's attacks. He had lost touch with Yukio to the point where his brother had tried to kill himself. He’d scared his friends and threatened to kill them. He’d yelled at Amaimon and he’d injured Mephisto over and over again. 

"I’m sorry..." He buried his head in Mephisto's sweat drenched hair, a sob breaking past his lips, his chest so tight it hurt to the point where he felt his ribs would shatter and pierce his lungs.

How had it come to this? Not long ago he’d been curled up with Mephisto and Amaimon on a large pink couch playing video games while Mephisto ranted about how pineapple pizza was objectively the best pizza. 

How had all his love for the two demons dissolved into this? 

"You have to possess someone here." He said, looking down at Mephisto’s tired and unseeing eyes. Rin could feel every bump in his spine as he ran his hand down his back in a futile, but near instinctive gesture of comfort. The smell of rot from him was overwhelming, Rin crying as all Mephisto did in response was puke up more blood and oil. 

"Please there’s so many bodies." He hated to call the boys in the tubes bodies, but that’s what they were to demons, that’s what they’d been made for as cruel as it was and despite how awful it made Rin feel to admit, he’d rather Mephisto take one of them then leave him. "If you don’t leave your body like this you'll die...you'll die for real, Samael please."

His concept would reform eventually, but he wouldn’t be Mephisto, not really. Being unable to leave a dying host, being subject to that reaction, took an extreme toll on a demon's heart, it could be centuries before Samael reformed, millennia even, especially since he had no claims to speak of to hold a piece of his power. 

"Please..." He begged, but he didn’t even know if Mephisto could hear him anymore, let alone do as Rin asked. 

He moved to tug Mephisto up further against him, to clutch him close to his chest and try to feel his fragile heartbeat. As he did Mephisto's body ripped, his limp legs too much weight, pelvis separating from his upper half, intestines spilling out onto the floor, rotted clean through. 

There was so much blood.

Rin didn’t see it, Rin couldn’t see it. He saw it. He blocked it out, he panicked, he...he "No, Samael, no, please...please, Samael, you're fine you'll be fine, I swear...I-" he gripped his hand under Mephisto's armpit, tugging his arm over his shoulder as if to pick him up, but the arm snapped off, thudding to the floor. 

"No, no, no...it’s okay, it’s alright...Samael..Samael, please, please." He pleaded with nothing and no one, Mephisto’s head fell back, rolling to the side. The skin stretched with the weight, pulling apart as red bloomed, neck opening to reveal more of his insides, head almost falling to the floor along with his arm and legs.

He was already gone. 

He was a shell, a body that should have died hundreds of years ago. He was rotted flesh and blood quickly drying on the floor, the smell of death and the oppressing sensational failure. His lower half was crumbling away, his fallen arm doing the same, decaying down to slime, to muscle and bone marrow. 

Rin’s tears smeared hot against his cheeks, breathes pushing fast and shallow from him. He dug his fingers into Samael's back, the pressure enough to push into his quickly caving chest cavity. He was still warm, his body where Rin's fingers dug into him a poor mockery of life that Rin could almost imagine breathing. 

Rin cried. 

He didn’t know for how long. 

Mephisto was still and silent against him. There wasn’t a heartbeat, or stuttered breaths, no blood or black oil, only quiet that seemed to suppress the sound of Rin's sobs, rendering them weaker than they already were. 

Rigor mortis didn’t have time to settle in, despite the fact that it should have, Samael's body simply rotting away. Rin didn’t watch. He couldn’t. But he still felt it and the images his mind conjured of what was happening were horrifying enough. 

Samael's hair fell out in large chunks, sometimes taking skin with them to slip to the floor. His chest fully caved in as it had wanted to untold minutes before. His teeth fell from his mouth, clattering to the tile when they managed to fall onto it and not onto Rin. His skull collapsed and his eyes reduced down to jelly and the tears Samael had died crying. Skin sagged from him, stretching till it tore like his neck, the wet sounds of it falling on Rin's increasingly deaf ears. Bones exposed themselves only to crack and chip off in varying sizes. 

Everything left, everything changed, everything turned into nothing, slipping away with the passing seconds that took far longer than they had any right to.

Rin let Samael rot against him.

His ears rang. His hand didn’t hurt anymore. 

He didn’t know where to go from here and now his arms were empty. 

His head fell back and he stared at the ceiling.

Rin sobbed.

The last thing he’d done was hurt Samael. The last thing he’d done was scare him, threaten him and Amaimon. The last thing he’d done was try and force himself on him. 

They’d been fighting for days. 

Rin had been so, so angry. 

Rin had wanted to tear him to pieces and now all those broken pieces were in his lap and he didn’t want any of them. 

He wanted Mephisto. 

He loved Mephisto. 

And now he was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow!  
> That was fun wasn’t it?  
> I cried writing it, and I loved writing it and thebeingofeverything convinced me to keep it a cliffhanger so   
> Lol enjoy yourselves while I write the rest.
> 
> The angst hahaha  
> This is my favorite chapter and I’m so happy with how it turned out.


	10. Everything: Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Is this what death feels like? 
> 
> They aren’t sure anymore

He was so numb, his mind fled him, body floating in a pool of blank spaces. Sobs tore from him, but the pain in his chest didn’t burn anymore. He could have stayed there for hours and maybe he did. Maybe he would rot against the tile just like Samael had. Maybe this was his grave too.

And then, from nothing, from emptiness, a spark.

It crackled through him, swelling and spinning with a sensation of dizziness and the feeling of a puzzle piece clicking into place with a satisfying snap. A picture completed.

Rin lifted his hand to his chest and saw he was on fire, the bright blue glow rising up around him. He shook. He wasn’t losing control, not again, he had his demonic self buried inside him, his grief too human and overwhelming. Yet, his flames grew beyond his control and his heart bloomed from his chest, rotating slowly before the separate sections split open.

Was he dying too?

He would have expected it to hurt more, his heart shattering to pieces in front of his eyes. But the only thing he could feel was an overwhelming sense of belonging, of coming home after a long day when you were so, so tired.

Something curled inside the pieces, flowed through the sections. A gentle purple filled the space between the parts of his heart, faint at first, but glowing brighter as it spun.

His flames grew further, blue deepening to purple at the base, the movements of the flames mesmerizing, the warmth washing over him, fire whipping his hair and clothes about as the blood, tears, and oil burned away to leave him clean.

Rin’s heart pieced itself back together, closing around the color swirling inside. He lifted his hand to his chest as it disappeared behind his ribs, fire dying down to leave only his tail and horns still lit.

He understood.

"Samael..." He breathed the time king's name, Mephisto’s aspect filling up all the broken spaces his death had left.

Samael, his being damaged by the death of his host, should have disappeared entirely, should have returned to Gehenna, to Satan's fire from whence he had originally split and formed.

Yet he had joined Rin’s fires instead.

Samael was him, he was Samael. All the moments and memories in their lives blended together, no line between who was who or where one ended and one began.

No words were needed between them, they were an individual completely, but Samael spoke anyway, images flooding their mind, individual seconds, the touches of warm hands, soft glances.

It started with them, mornings in bed, smiles and laughs, hands drifting across skin. The images were from Samael's point of view, Rin’s eyes looking up at him, his grin. But as Rin's mind caught up the same memories filled in from Rin’s side, Samael's fangs peeking under his lips, the way he’d stick his tongue out when he was fighting a boss in a video game.

The moments where their lives crossed paths, met and intertwined, two viewpoints from one body, one entity.

When Shiro had said he could feel Samael's love for Amaimon Rin had had an idea of what he’d meant, but he hadn’t expected it to feel like this.

—————————————————————————————————————————  
Amaimon’s tail tangled against his own, warm breath washing over his neck and shoulder. A purr rumbled through Amaimon’s chest, the sound echoing in his own, longing to stay in bed for just a little while longer. Amaimon's scent was soft and familiar, warm grass and June afternoons.

He was mumbling in his sleep, but the words didn’t matter, the sound of his voice enough to make his eyes feel ten times heavier than they were.

He fell asleep

———————————————————————————————————————

Amaimon flipped through the air, laughing as he fell, hundreds of sharpened rocks flying behind him to pummel downwards. The shards cut against his skin but all he could do was smile, rising to meet him.

The sun was bright above them, growls ripping from his chest as his blows were met, as claws tore at him and he bared his fangs.

The fight was long and exciting, the world spinning around them as they danced, as they rushed forward, stepped back, dodged, and struck. Pinning Amaimon down and setting his jaws against the earth king's neck was a bittersweet victory, desiring for the fight to continue while at the same time finding deep satisfaction in his win. He ran his tongue over Amaimon's jugular, tasting the sweat there.

A hand drift down between his legs, drawing a new hunger to the surface of his mind as he dug his teeth into Amaimon's skin, claws tearing through Amaimon's clothes

—————————————————————————————————————

Tears burned in his eyes, the water from the shower scalding against his skin. A presence appeared beside him, crouching down in the spray.

Amaimon's claws drug over his his back, drawing small circles. He hadn’t bothered to remove his clothes, water soaking through the fabric, boots squeaking against the floor. He looked like an absolute mess, green hair matted to his forehead as he couched, so much so that he couldn’t help but laugh when he looked at the earth king.

Despite the pain he smiled and leaned against Amaimon's shoulder, thankful for the comfort he provided even if it was a bit odd.

———————————————————————————————————

Slit pupils peered through underbrush, a low growl reverberating through Amaimon's chest as he stalked around him in a tight, attentive circle.

They had all felt him form, had all learned his name, his identity forming in the backs of their minds, a shared knowledge. That had been many decades ago, many years since Amaimon had taken shape, had stepped into being and found his first host.

Yet, no one had seen him. No one sought him out, understanding that the first years after formation were the hardest, the most volatile and they had all silently agreed centuries before that those first years were to be a king’s own. All violence, all so called slights were waved off. If they bore their fangs at you it was forgivable, if they murdered your allies it was forgotten, after all, children were naive and demons were rash even when ancient.

Any other demon would have met a quick end had they snarled at him the way Amaimon did, but he felt no anger, Amaimon had never met another king before and wasn’t even a century old. He was new and brash and it had been oh so long since he’d met someone new who looked to be as fun Amaimon.

His tail lashed out behind him the lizard-like appendage snapping so fast a crack filled the air in threat.

He smelled delicious.

He smelled frightened, and angry, and like what had drawn him to the forest in the first place, lust.

"Your first rut is the hardest." He spoke softly, Amaimon had killed every demon within a several mile radius and a fair number of humans too. His body longed for a mate strong enough to take him, but he was a king and such creatures were few and far between. "But I’m here now."

He began to tug off his clothes, knowing better than to snap them away as such a sudden change might have frightened Amaimon, letting the fabric slip to the ground.

He knelt, tipping his head back in offering. Amaimon was on top of him in an instant, fangs against this throat, snarling and ripping into his skin, spreading his legs and taking his pleasure without bothering to prepare him.

What a fun addition to their ranks.

——————————————————————————————————

Days, weeks, years, all of it became them, was them. All the love that they felt for Amaimon was as tangible on their tongue as honeysuckle nectar in May. It was ever present and soft, warming to the tips of their toes, but something about it felt off in a way they didn’t understand. Amongst the sweet flavor a dark undercurrent threatened to sweep them out to sea.

What was it?

Something was wrong.

He loved Amaimon...he knew that...but...

——————————————————————————————

Smoke curled into the air, burning low from the end of a quickly disappearing cigarette. The glow of the embers illuminated Shiro's face and body as he stretched against the sheets. He was naked and covered in hickies, cheeks still dusted red from their coupling.

He reached up and to hand him the cigarette, but he didn’t take it, waving away the smoke, "Get that disgusting thing away from me."

"Oh come on stop being such a stiff," Shiro chuckled, pushing the cig closer and this time he took it.

He took a long drag, letting the smoke fill his lungs in low burn that itched at the back of his throat. He leaned his head back, letting the smoke curl out of him in a slow stream. "Been a while." He hummed as he pulled the butt away from his mouth and handed it back to Shiro. "It’s pretty alright."

"It’s more than pretty alright, you just don’t know how to have fun, you're too stuffy." Shiro chided, taking a last puff before tossing it into a nearby trashcan.

"I don’t know how to have fun?" He asked, leaning over to shift on top of Shiro as he summoned a plastic bags directly onto Shiro's chest, the packages full with a variety of different substances, "I’ll show you fun."

Shiro grinned widely.

They spent the night laughing like they hadn’t in years.

——————————————————————————

Henry sang softly to himself as he pulled dusty books down from his shelves, brushing his soft brown hair back behind his ears and swaying slightly to his own music before he stopped suddenly, turning behind him and nearly jumping out of his skin, books toppling over.

"I told you to stop sneaking up on me like that!" Henry scolded, but it only made him laugh as he leaned against the bookshelf, arms crossing over his chest, tail flicking from side to side in a slow sway.

"Yes I remember."

"Then why don’t you listen? I can’t keep dropping things, I broke a crystal last time." Henry huffed, bending over to pick up his books.

"I like watching you." He purred, reveling in the deep blush that lit Henry's cheeks ablaze at the response.

"Creep." He hissed, turning to go back to his study area and ignoring the presence behind him.

"I like when you sing, when you dance." He placed his hand on Henry's shoulder as the man set his books down on his desk, gently leading him into turning around, "Care to dance with me?"

"After you scared me?" Henry asked incredulously, brushing his fingers gently across his cheek, "Yeah...yeah I think I could do that."

They started singing softly, moving to the beat, foreheads meeting gently.

———————————————————————

Something was wrong.

There was love and warmth in these memories, but something was terribly, terribly wrong. There was hesitation, masks and suppressed emotions. Denial.

Why now?

Why love now? Why love the sway of a slim green tail, the way a man tucked his hair behind his ears, the soft glow of a cigarette between familiar lips? Why love the blue fire dancing in a young demon’s eyes but not...but not him?

What was the difference, what made something special and alive and in love?

Where was the line and why...why did it have to matter?

Why couldn’t he stop asking himself?

————————————————————

"Henry!" He called out into the empty hall, the smell of fresh blood heavy around him.

They’d talked about this, they’d talked, Henry said he wouldn’t. Henry had said he’d get better. Henry said they could work together.

Henry had promised.

Henry was propped up against the headboard.

Henry's wrists were slit.

His eyes widened, tears filling them as he shook his head, running to Henry’s side and tugging him into his arms halfway off the bed. His heart was still beating, quiet and shallow, lungs straining to take air. "I’m here, I’m here now." He said softly.

He couldn’t lose anyone else.

Abduxuel had broken him and he hadn’t even...he hadn’t even loved him like he was supposed to. Not Henry, he couldn’t lose Henry.

He had promised he wouldn’t hurt himself, he’d promised...

"Let me possess you," he begged, but Henry didn’t let him, mind pushing him back, a hand rest red over his own.

"I want to go." Henry said, voice soft and happy.

"No, no," he shook his head, pulling Henry's hand from his own and placing it on his cheek like he had done so many times before, "Not yet, you can’t, you're supposed to get old and wrinkly and gross remember, you said so. You promised me."

Henry laughed, the sound ragged and tired, "I don’t want to be all wrinkly, I want to be with Margret again...and I want you to have someone who isn’t like me..."

"What do you mean," he tried again to possess Henry, growling sadly as he was pushed away, his desperation growing with the passing seconds.

"You need someone fun...not sad like me...I’m a burden. I have been since Margret died."

"That’s a lie!" That couldn’t be further from the truth. Henry didn’t drag him down, wasn’t a burden to him, Henry was his friend, his best friend. All he wanted was for Henry to get better, he didn’t care how long he had to wait. He didn’t care if it took forever, if Henry was never the same again. It didn’t matter, just so long as he stayed.

"It’s not," Henry said with finality, his body growing colder and colder in his arms, "Take my body won’t you? When I’m gone?"

"No." He couldn’t, he wouldn’t, not when Henry was supposed to stay with him, not when he was supposed to live. He pushed again, tried to force his aspect into Henry, tried to shove his way inside. "No."

Henry winced and clenched his eyes shut, a small whimper of pain crossing his lips, "Stop, you know that hurts, love."

Love.

There was that stupid word. That stupid line in the sand.

"I’m possessing you. You are going to live."

"No, I’m not."

He pushed and pushed and pushed, tried to possess Henry over and over. He wouldn’t budge and he cried out in pain every time, but he couldn’t stop. If it worked just once, just once, then Henry would stay. If he managed to take over Henry's body then all the pain wouldn’t matter, all the whimpers would fall away and he would be okay...they would be okay.

He tried until Henry fell completely still against him and he felt himself slip into Henry's mind only to find it completely and utterly empty.

He hadn’t even said a proper goodbye, he’d just kept on hurting Henry right until the very end.

—————————————————

He left Amaimon behind in his bedroom, trying to keep his own anger suppressed. He had told Amaimon this would happen, they had known about it. This was part of the plan and the plan came before everything else.

Shiro was one human. One.

The world was filled with billions of them and existing without form was something more painful than any of them could grasp. He would not let Lucifer send them back to nonexistence, even if that meant sacrificing people he-

He shook his head, he couldn’t get lost in thought right now, there was still so much to do.

He appeared in a small alcove over the nave of the church, looking down on the pews and the pulpit.

Shiro's body lay broken on the floor, morning light streaming in through the stained glass windows in a cascade of colors over him.

A form cried over him, hands gripping tight to a sword as he shook.

Shiro was dead under him, his perspective shifting suddenly, coming closer to the man on the floor.

It was all his fault, if he hadn’t yelled at Shiro this wouldn’t have happened, if he hadn’t opened the sword, if he had just listened.

A hand settled on his shoulder, making him flinch. He turned to face Maruta, he hadn’t even heard anyone come close. "Come on, the ambulance is here to take him."

"Take him! Take him!?" He reached out and dug his hand into Shiro's shirt, the claws on his hands frightened him, the fire that flared around him frightened him.

Maruta yelped in pain, backing away quickly, holding his hand close to his chest.

"I'm sorry!" He’d burnt Maruta, he’d hurt him and he’d hurt Shiro, "I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to, I just...I just..." His eyes met Maruta's own and he found that there wasn’t any fear there, the older man reaching out for him again.

Shouldn’t he be concerned? Shouldn’t he be terrified? Maruta has known him his entire life and he had just caught on fire. But he wasn’t. Maruta didn’t look scared or confused or like he was losing his mind which was exactly how he felt because he was Satan's son.

His son.

How fucked up was that?

He was Satan's son and his dad, his real dad was dead and he had killed him. He could kill Maruta too, but he didn’t even look scared! "Did you...did you know about this?" He asked, voice shaking.

Maruta nodded.

Of course he had known, everyone around him had known, that was part of the plan, the easiest way.

His whole life had been a lie.

It was safer that way.

Safer didn’t mean better!

He’d tried other ways, other timelines, this was the most stable, consistent option to progress his plans. Everything else was too volatile.

He was back at the alcove above the pews, above Shiro's dead body as exorcists dressed as EMTs picked him up. He buried his hands in his hair, this memory was too confusing, switching perspectives and bodies hurt, arguing with himself hurt, the conflicting emotions hurt.

He’d know this would happen. No. He hadn’t. It had come out of nowhere. It had been carefully planned.

It hurt. It hurt to see Shiro's body. It had hurt to know it was his fault. It hurt to know he’d never see him again, not really. There would be no more new memories no matter how much he wanted them.

He closed his eyes tightly and shook his head, he couldn’t think about this anymore.

—————————————

"Is Abduxuel around?" He asked as he stepped from thin air into a familiar room by the sea, the scent of the ocean not managing to distract him from the desperation that seemed to fill him to the brim.

"Who?" Samael asked as he turned away from a desk, crossing one leg over the other.

"Abduxuel! You know our twin, our other half. The king of space." He snapped, not in the mood for games. He wanted to see Abduxuel. He needed to see him. Abduxuel had died from Lucifer’s curse, the light king blaming him for the loss, saying it was his fault he hadn’t managed to fall properly in love with Abduxuel.

And he was right.

It was his fault.

Samael tilted his head, a deep look of confusion falling over his features, assuming a slightly apprehensive stance, crossing his arms over his exposed stomach, "There’s never been a king of space, only me, us, the king of time and space."

"No! Where's Abduxuel? I need to speak with Abduxuel." His fangs bristled to points in his mouth, his more demonic features exposing themselves without his permission.

Samael stood from his chair, straightening himself at the display. It wouldn’t be the first time an argument with himself had turned violent, "Maybe you've messed up your timeline, why don’t you reset it?" He said, feeling his own power chill the room around him as his older self grew angrier with the passing moments. "Just start over."

And so he had, snapping away from the clueless Samael and his anger. He’d set things right and everything would be okay.

He started from the beginning, the very start of things, tossing away his plans and his progress without a second thought. He could set up his chessboard again, could find the humans he needed for any and all of his plans, but there was only one Abduxuel.

He felt himself form.

Alone.

He felt time and space conceptualize as singular, a whole entity that had never been and never would be separate.

The sensation sickened him. It was wrong and disorienting. Where was Abduxuel, why wasn’t he here with him? He had originally formed with Abduxuel, he clung to those memories, the timeline should have reset properly, but it never did, no matter how many times he tried.

He was always alone.

—————————

Bright green eyes crinkled around the edges, Abduxuel laughing as he looked him over.

"What?"

"You've got a noodle in your beard." Abduxuel grinned, reaching forward to pluck it from the short hairs.

His skin tingled where Abduxuel touched him, gaze lingering for longer than it should have before he leaned in and pressed their lips together.

Abduxuel tasted like salt and the fat from the slice of pork in his own ramen, but he didn’t care. It was a taste he’d memorized and sought out in the many long years to follow.

The night was warm and gentle, the glow of the lanterns above them caressed Abduxuel's skin that made him glow almost luminescent in the dark, a halo of comfort and belonging surrounding him.

He reached out and tangled their fingers together. They were the same temperature, yet he burned where they touched. He marked the spot in his mind, in his timeline. He would come back to this moment, he promised himself.

He would return to the street side Ramen vendor and Abduxuel kissing him, the warmth of the broth lingering on his lips.

"Enjoy it now," Abduxuel chuckled, making him blink and look back up from their hands.

"Hm?"

"I can practically hear those wheels of yours turning in your head." He said, sliding his free hand up to brush against the outside of his neck. He ducked his head towards the space king's touch, pressing there and breathing in his scent. "Enjoy us right now. Focus on the moment."

He nodded as he opened his eyes, hardly having noticed they'd closed as he’d nuzzled into Abduxuel's hand, opening his mouth to say something, he remembered the words, but his voice died in his throat.

Abduxuel frowned slightly, eyebrows pinching, "What’s wrong?"

He couldn’t find it in him to answer, watching horrified as rot grew across Abduxuel's face.

"You okay?" Abduxuel asked, but he wasn’t, leaning away from his twin's touch as Abduxuel continued to fall apart. His cheek caved in as the darkness of the rot turned to blood, deep maroon dripping between his lips.

He closed his eyes again, tried to shake off the memory, but this time when he opened his eyes Abduxuel was still there.

He was smiling now, exposing fangs that were quick to fall from his mouth, clattering to the ground below. "I’m so happy to see you again!" Abduxuel's hand grabbed his shirt collar tightly, red blooming through the layers of his clothes, the smell of decay filling the air. "There’s so much we have to talk about!"

His body shook, the skin fell off his fingers where they squeezed around the fabric of his shirt, exposing the muscle beneath, bone poking in a stark contrast to the red. Abduxuel tugged him forward, free hand lifting to touch his cheek again, smearing it in rotten flesh.

He tumbled out of his seat, tipping back until he toppled to the ground, chair crashing down with him. Abduxuel was on top of him in an instant, bits of skin and muscle raining down. He was still smiling, even without his teeth, his hair falling out as his nose caved inward, leaving a gaping hole in his face.

"Why didn’t you love me?" Abduxuel asked, his eyes piercing down at him until they glazed over and rotted away, maggots forming in the empty sockets to squirm about.

"I thought it was enough, I tried!" He had, he had tried for four years and even now he wasn’t sure where he'd gone wrong. There were moments when he’d look back and asked himself, hadn’t that been love?

Lucifer was wrong. He had loved Abduxuel, and if he hadn’t then he wasn’t able to at all.

If he could have loved anyone in the entire universe it would have been him.

So he didn’t love.

He couldn’t.

Amaimon didn’t matter. Shiro hadn’t mattered. Henry hadn’t mattered.

Because if they had then he had...

"You failed." Abduxuel spoke, barely more than a skeleton now, crumbling bones and the scent of lingering decay. "You did this to me."

His eyes welled with tears that tracked warm streaks down his bloodied face, "I’m sorry...I’m so sorry...I tried. I did. I did...I promise, please...I promised."

"Shhh," the bones of Abduxuel's hands smeared the tears from his face, making him tremble worse than he already was as his twin degraded further still, sinking into dust that clogged his lungs and burned his eyes. "It won’t be long now."

He clawed at his throat, trying to get Abduxuel out of him, trying to cough him up as he sat bolt upright, choking, but he wouldn’t leave.

His vision swam, he looked down at his hands. They were shaking, all of him was and he couldn’t stop it. His fingernails popped from their beds, falling too loud to the ground. His hands were rotting just like Abduxuel's, cracking and peeling away, skin rubbed raw, muscles exposed and excruciating.

He was on the floor, he had fallen, been tossed.

No. He had thrown himself to the floor, on accident, not on purpose...he had warped here.

He had been on a porch, he'd lost control, his hand had been pulled off, he had snapped and now he was here and now he was...

His head looked up.

There he was staring back at him from across the section thirteen laboratory's floor.

Blue eyes looked back at him scared and confused, no, he looked at himself, he was broken, crumbled like a piece of paper at the bottom of a waste bin. His bones jutted through his skin, his arms and legs shattered to pieces. Milky green eyes looked at him, looked at himself.

Words crossed his lips and rang in his ears and the hallway felt so, so long.

Everything was wrong.

He closed his eyes, his head hurt again. He was tired.

Arms pulled at him, they were warm and soft but his body felt so stiff and disfigured beneath his hands. He looked back at his fingers, they were gone, they were tugging at his clothes.

Abduxuel's dust was in his lungs again, he was choking. Something pushed at the back of his throat and pulsed from him.

Oil?

It was dark and slick and covered in blood and he remembered this. He had puked it up in a field outside his territory, his home, not too far from the monastery.

He didn’t want to remember any more.

It was all too busy.

There was blood everywhere, on his clothes, on the floor, it was the one thing he was sure of.

His stomach was screaming at him, he was screaming at him. He saw his arm fall off, watched it tumble to the ground. He was sobbing. He was so cold.

This was his fault.

———————

He felt himself rot, watched as his stomach split over, heard his organs sluice to the floor, it was warm and he was burning...but he was still so cold.

Freezing and on fire he begged for himself to be okay, but he wasn’t and he knew that and he asked himself if he could please, please just possess a host, please there were so many bodies...

But he didn’t want to.

This body was his, it was Faust. Faust who had promised he would stay but then hadn’t, he didn’t want to leave this body and he...

He didn’t want to wake up, not really, he was scared but he was also exhausted. Wouldn’t it be easier to let the black oil come, let Abduxuel's bones drag him to whatever would happen next. Wasn’t it easier to hope that what came next was nothing at all and he could finally have the chance to rest.

Maybe Lucifer was right, maybe not existing was better, safer. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt as much this time if he just let himself go.

He felt himself die.

—————— 

He disappeared from his arms, dead and gone but all alone on the floor sobbing. Why did he hurt so much? Wasn’t being dead supposed to feel like nothing? His heart was breaking, he was lost and scared and alone.

He was looking down at Shiro's body again, he didn’t bother to ask why any more. What was the point? Of course he’d wind up back here, it was his fault Shiro was dead, after all. Being trapped looking at him forever seemed a fitting punishment.

He was smashing the furniture in Abduxuel's room, Amaimon was standing at the door. He was to blame for Abduxuel’s death, they both knew it and now...

He was dead too

Everything was wrong.

————

He was looking at his hands again. He moved to suck in a deep breath but his lungs were tight and full of liquid. Blue fire lit across his skin and he screamed. It tore through him, incinerating his lungs to silence him as his skin melted off.

Something tapped him on the shoulder, making him flinch. He turned around in a desperate scrambled, clamoring away from...from "Sheimi?"

She looked down at him, worry in her gaze, "Are you okay?" She asked, her soft warm voice soothing all the pain and panic he had gone through. He didn’t know what had happened, but it didn’t matter, she was here now.

"I...I think so I just, maybe I hit my head?"

"You've been gone for a while, I was worried." She said as she reached out for him, he took he hand carefully, happy to see that he wasn’t rotting or burning or freezing anymore.

"I just had to go to the past, it’s fine now." He assured, smiling.

"Did you learn anything?"

He stood as she helped him up, he was sore, but he was okay. His arms and legs weren’t broken and his intestines were inside him where they belonged. His memories and visions felt distant already, like waking up from a bad dream. He looked around and found himself back in her garden. He must have come here after his travels, "I think so." He said and he knew that was true but he wasn’t sure what it was that he had learned. "I’m really tired though."

"Why don’t we go inside and get some tea so you can relax?"

He nodded, that sounded like a very good idea. She turned around and started walking back to her mother's shop. He looked up at the sun, it was warm and perfect against a bright blue sky. He took a deep breath, the scents of the garden filling him up.

As he turned his gaze back towards her, watching the way her hair swayed in the light breeze, a flower caught his eye. He paused, stopping beside it.

It looked a lot like Amaimon's heart, the thought bringing a smile to his lips, "Hey do you think I could take a few of these flowers? I think Amaimon would really like them."

Sheimi screamed.

He looked back at her, "What’s wron-“

The garden melted away, the lab reforming in its place, Shiemi was covered in blue fire.

His hands found his hair again, shaking his head over and over.

No. No. No. No. No. No!

——

He couldn’t be here again, he’d just gotten out! He’d been in Sheimi's garden, he’d been home, he’d been safe!

Sheimi's skin melted from her bones, the smell of her flesh cooking filling the air, ripping away the smells of her garden with it.

He cried. He didn’t understand. What was happening!? Why couldn’t this just stop!?

"Stop! Please!" She cried for him to take his flames away but he couldn’t, he couldn’t control them.

Someone punched him in the face.

He tumbled to the ground, looking up with wide eyes at Bon. "Didn’t we tell you! Your flames hurt people!" He yelled down at him, pointing to Sheimi as her back bowed unnaturally and she snapped in half, her muscles constricting with the pain as she screamed and begged him to stop.

Konekomaru cowered behind Bon, fear and distrust in his eyes and they had every right to be there. But he couldn’t cower for much longer as his flames overtook both him and Bon at once, sending them into death cries.

"I’m sorry!" He yelled, he screamed, he tried to control his flames, tried to save his friends, but he couldn’t and it was all his fault. "I’m sorry!!"

Everything was wrong.

—

The floor was covered in bodies, his friends and families broken forms scattered about as he shook. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from them. They were charred and decimated, torn to shreds and half eaten. There was a mound of bones under him. Empty eye sockets stared blankly up at him as maggots and beetles crawled over the milky eyes of those he knew and loved, flies buzzing around their rotted flesh.

He curled into a ball, palms pressing hard into his eyes. He didn’t want to see anymore. He wanted to die. Hadn’t he died? He had felt it.

Why was he still being tortured? What had he done wrong? What had he done to deserve this?

"Everything."

A familiar voice filled his ears, hands clawing at his legs, tugging his palms away from his face, forcing him to look.

_Satan_

The word burst through his mind, the knowledge of who and what he was over taking him with its terror and primal allure.

He wanted to get as far away from him as possible, he needed to get closer.

Shiro and Yukio looked up at him from the pile of bodies, smiling widely at him, warped eyes burning blue and red. "I’ve been looking for an opening," he laughed, Shiro and Yukio's mouths moving with his voice. "But I’ve never seen one this big."

They burned before him, dragging him in close, fingers smudging grubbily against his skin, fingernails worming their ways into his pores. Blood poured from Shiro and Yukio's mouths, noses, eyes, and ears. "You've served yourself on a silver platter for me."

"N-No..." he whimpered, his voice so small as the dead bodies of his friends and family writhed about him, flaring back to life with Satan's flames, the Gehenna king puppeteering them into wakefulness. "I’m not...I’m not..."

"You're going to make such a perfect body, my perfect body."

They were crawling on top of him now, Shiemi, Izumo, Bon, Shima, Koneko, Amaimon, Abduxuel, Shiro, Yukio, Henry, so many faces, so many hands, all smiling.

He screamed, black oil choking his cries and pouring from him as they covered his vision, as they overwhelmed and suffocated him.

"You did this to yourself."

"This is your fault."

"You could have tried harder."

"They're dead because of you."

"You failed."

The bodies fell away, he sunk into the floor, sinking down, down, down into the oil that had torn its way from his body. He reached up, trying to scramble his way back to the section thirteen floor.

There wasn’t any purchase to be found, the image of the lab shrinking away above him as he tumbled into the void below, tears rising in the air above him, streaks shining against the dark.

When he hit the floor, if it could be called that, he found he was small. A child. The form was unfamiliar and all too understood as he cried. He bent over, sneakers squeaking against the ground as he gathered his legs under him. He was in an old school uniform, yellow backpack heavier than he could ever remember it being on his back.

"Did you get in a fight?"

He sniffled, rubbing at his eyes and smearing snot against his cheek before he looked at the scuffs and blood against his arms and bare knees, "I’m sorry..."

"You need to stop being so hot headed, you can’t just argue with everyone or punch your problems away," Shiro said, voice soft and warm and everything he missed. "We've talked about this."

"I know," he couldn’t count the times Shiro had scolded him, lifting his hands up in the air as Shiro bent over to pick him up, tugging him into his arms. He brushed his fingers through his hair and he felt calmer than he had in years.

He smelled familiar and his smile was one he’d memorized a thousand times over.

He breathed a relieved breath, if Shiro was here then everything would be alright. He closed his eyes tiredly.

. 

. 

.

There was a hand in his chest.

Shiro was reaching in, shoving past his ribs, peeling away the skin, cracking his bones and lungs, fingers tightening around his heart and tearing it from him.

It beat blue in his hand, squeezing down.

His back bent, a scream shredding his voice box like an animal dying in the night, hidden over a mountain ridge line. The sound echoed around them, bone chilling and growing in strength.

Satan's eyes gazed down at him from Shiro's face again, blood curdling laugh just barely audible above his death throws. "I’m just making room for my own heart is all, I need a nice and empty body, you understand."

His needle sharp claws pierced the sections of his heart apart, revealing the soft inside.

He clawed Satan's hand, screaming and crying, his atoms trying to rend themselves away from his body and finally, finally end this.

Please...

Please just let it be over.

But it wouldn’t stop, agony washed over him, his back broke from how he coiled away from the touch, his mouth opened wide as his voice ran raw, choked cries escaping him in a desperate slide from his lips.

He watched horrified as the inside of his heart glowed with blue fire, the same that pulsed around them in iron hot waves, an inescapable onslaught. Yet, at the center of his flames a different color flickered, low and threatening to be consumed by Satan flames that moved in to overwhelm his own and despite everything...

Despite all of it.

Watching the purple spark sputter and shrink was worse than all the pain and visions.

He couldn’t let Satan have him, couldn’t let him crush his heart and extinguish him.

Samael was in there...in that little purple flame, hiding away from the suffering they had found themselves in.

His eyes widened, his head tipped up.

_Samael._

Samael!

Rin shoved Satan back as the name resonated through his mind, known and spokenas he returned to his normal size again, no longer a child.

That purple flame was Samael and he had died, but instead of going to Satan, he had gone to Rin's flames instead. What had followed had been a tidal wave of memories and emotions, all of his and Samael's experiences, thoughts, and feelings blending into one complete being.

But he wasn’t Samael. And Samael wasn’t him.

Rin didn’t want them to be. He loved Samael and that love meant wanting the time king near him not in the sense of them being one being, but two separate individuals who could agree on their feelings.

Was that the line?

The thought popped into his head, Samael's question striking him and he nodded.

Yes, that was the difference.

Samael's flame grew stronger in the center of his heart, his presence, his power and will trying to shove Satan back. "Don’t touch him!" Rin could hear Samael say the words, their single mouth snarling out the words as fearful images of his own dead body filled their mind, images of him possessed by Satan, laughing as he advanced towards them.

The time king’s rage was nearly overwhelming, almost pulling their minds back together, but Rin wouldn’t allow it. He needed to get Satan away and get Samael into his own body.

He snarled, flames growing in strength to help Samael beat back Satan back. The void around them glowed with the flames, burning away the darkness.

They couldn’t let past memories and worries for the future weaken them, couldn’t let them hold them back or miss out on what was important and they certainly couldn’t let it weaken them enough for Satan to take over.

Satan growled, his own fire rising up in a pillar around him, circling wider and wider, but it was too late, Rin and Samael had already closed their mind off from him, willing their flames to incinerate Satan's own and his image before them.

The time for nightmares was over.

The void burned away, like an old film real, blue spots growing around them to reveal section thirteen underneath. Satan disappeared with the illusion of darkness, kicked from their mind, their fears set aside.

The lab came into focus as they drew in a deep breath. The smell of decay permeated their senses, but it didn’t worry them any longer. There was no reason to worry anymore.

Henry's body was rotted against them, but Faust’s body wasn’t Henry anymore, it hadn’t been for a long time.

They took a deep breath, letting their head tip back. Compared to the flames the lab was blissfully cool and for just a moment they allowed themselves to feel the air conditioning on their skin.

"We need to get you a new body." Rin said.

"They’re Henry's you know, the clones." Samael answered and it was weird to be talking to themselves, but it was also right and something about it, about each other’s presences, was comforting.

"I know." Rin knew everything now. It had been incredibly overwhelming to merge with the time king, taking on his knowledge, his memories, and emotions. But now, nightmares cast aside and Satan pushed from their mind, it seemed normal.

Samael's understanding of his mind was Rin's understanding of his mind and vice versa, it had simply always been this way. At least, that was how it seemed to them.

They stood, looking down to find themselves naked in the laboratory’s glow. They had burned away their clothes in their panic, Samael flicking their tail in a slow cool drag against the floor that felt so nice they almost groaned at the sensation.

They could have some fun later.

They blinked, both a bit surprised by the idea of physical intimacy, finding that their anger and desperation had dissipated in the ordeal, a quiet and deep understanding settling over them.

There would still be some talking, of that they were both assured, especially when it came to Amaimon, but their argument was over.

Knowing everything there was to know about somebody could have that effect.

They more than deserved the moment they took to stretch before looking over the clones. They were members of the Samael group and even knowing that they were clones of Henry, since he had been Samael's body at the time of the testing, the images of the boys in the tubes still unnerved Rin a bit.

Samael echoed his sentiments, looking up into the sleeping faces of his potential hosts. All of his research with Henry had led them here and in a sense they had given Henry an intangible kind of immortality in the forms of men who would never know his name or his voice. His genes were replicated and reproduced across the world as clones, as exorcists, as the children and the children's children of those individuals.

It was bittersweet in the end, knowing that Henry had died as a result of his child's murder, yet had managed to find a foothold in the world centuries after his death, even if Samael understood deep down that he never would have approved of such extensive human experimentation.

Henry had accepted all of him, had taken all Samael could give, but he’d been human and as such he would have been repulsed by what his legacy had become. Humans said all the time that they could take the reality of demons, could handle the frightful creature Samael at times was, but Samael knew that wasn’t true and...it was something that worried him when it came to Rin.

"I’ve handled it so far." Rin interrupted, ending the internal monologue Samael had filled their mind with and he was right, he had handled being the son of Satan and almost being executed, he had handled Yukio running off, he handled going to the past twice, and he’d handled merging with Samael's very being. What else was there?

"Nothing I’m aware of." Samael said, tone implying that much more could happen in however many years they'd have together and Rin didn’t doubt that, his life had already been a rollercoaster and he’d become accustomed to rolling with the punches.

"I am going to have to talk to you about what's supposed to happen next month though," Rin chuckled, the awareness of Samael's mind revealing all his hidden plans, his chessboard on full display.

"Figured you would."

"Just because I have your brain in my brain doesn’t mean I’m letting you off the hook for being a jerk, you know that, right."

"Considering your brain is also my brain, I’m well aware."

"Now," Rin hummed, stepping up to one of the clone tubes properly, "Time to get you out of my body."

"It’s very warm in here though," Samael said and the hint of a whine brought a smile to both of their lips.

"I’ll warm you up later."

"Promise?" Samael asked and Rin knew he was asking for so much more than that.

They closed their eyes and Rin could feel his heart form in the air again, pieces opening to revel Samael's flame underneath as he left, his presence reforming only inches away as Rin found himself once more alone in his body.

He opened his eyes, looking up into Samael's gaze as he looked down on him from his new body, still suspended in the tube.

Their hands met through the glass, pressing together along the last remaining barrier between them.

"I promise."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was fun!
> 
> I wanted to format it so the lines in between sections shrunk into the middle, not the right side, to represent how Rin and Mephisto’s minds were blending, like them become one individual so those lines between them were disappearing.
> 
> The website did not want to do that, so it did look cooler in my head, but I hope y’all thought it was fun. 
> 
> Also! Wow Meph is not dead!  
> Okay he kinda was  
> But Rin fixed him!  
> Also they are done being big mad at each other uwu


	11. Right where you left it?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes you still need to talk things out, especially when you left one of your loved ones out of the loop.

There had been tears, not that Amaimon would ever easily admit to them, the day after he unclaimed Mephisto.

He had tried to sleep, but he’d only managed a few restless hours, convinced that he had made a mistake. He wanted to turn back time like Mephisto and fix where he’d gone wrong. He’d been too brash, he’d rushed into the decision to break things off, he wanted to take it all back.

Sometimes the familiarity of pain was more alluring than the variables of change could ever hope to be.

He tried to let the warm sun soothe his worries, but it wasn’t helping, his mind consumed with dreading when Samael would return. He’d come back angry, of that Amaimon was sure. He was already envisioning the void he’d be tossed into, the spikes that would skewer through his body as Samael demanded he tell him why Amaimon had unclaimed him.

Could he even tell him?

Could he grant Samael the truth?

With every moment that ticked by the confidence that he could dwindled. How was he supposed to look Samael in the eye and tell him that he had unclaimed him because he loved him? Not only would Samael laugh and remind him that demons didn’t love, even when Amaimon knew that was lie, but he would also tell him that even if he could love, breaking things off from him as a result of that love didn’t make sense.

His ears folded to his head with worry and self hatred. He really was acting like an idiot.

Maybe he should just run back to Gehenna, like he had after Shiro's death, but this time he wouldn’t come back the moment Samael asked. Hopefully.

"Hey," Shiemi's voice called to him from across the garden he’d been moping in, demonic form fully exposed, large scaled tail curling around himself as if it could block out the entire world. "I know you said you wanted some quiet time to sun, but you've been out here for a while, so I thought I’d bring you some tea and snacks."

Amaimon had come to her hidden garden behind the exorcist supply shop about three hours ago, soaking in the afternoon and breathing the fresh, clear air the garden always seemed to be full of. He lifted his head from his scaled arms and he hated that she almost dropped her tray of food at the sight of him.

"Your eyes..."

"I want to be alone, I said-”

"Well you shouldn’t be." She cut him off, approaching the large rock he had chosen to sun himself on, setting her tray down against the grass.

Amaimon buried his face, not wanting to discuss his red rimmed eyes, damp with tears and anger. He just wanted to be alone...and yet he’d made a point of coming to Shiemi's garden, where he wouldn’t be, where the world felt smaller than it did in Mephisto's mansion. He groaned, human emotions were confusing and annoying.

"Come on I’ve got strawberry cheesecake." Shiemi said, her tone enticing.

Amaimon's ears flicked.

"And a fruit tart."

His stomach growled, a pout forming on his lips as he burrowed deeper into his arms in protest.

"And blue raspberry lollipops, your favorite, I picked them out of the bag for you."

This got him to look back up, hand sneaking out from under his tail to snatch one of the wrapped candies from a bowl on the serving tray, unwrapping the lollipop and crunching it between his fangs.

She let him eat the first one peacefully, the sounds of him eating filling the air as the blue candy clacked against his teeth and stained his tongue. Yet, as he reached out for another one, she smacked his hand away. "No more, not until you tell me what’s going on. It’s been three hours since you showed up. You didn’t even come say hello, Nee had to tell me you were here."

Amaimon grumbled under his breath, trying to snatch the tray of snacks this his tail, but she swatted that away as well.

"What was that?"

"I don’t want to talk about it."

Shiemi nodded solemnly, "I guess I’ll have to eat the cake alone then."

He growled, that wasn’t fair. She was the one who had barged in on his quiet time, she should be apologizing by giving him the snacks, not using them to bribe him into talking.

"I guess I could call Izumo, she likes fruit tart."

His tail curled out from around him, flicking in the air angrily.

Shiemi took out her phone and dialed Izumo's number, Amaimon could hear it ring and click as she picked up, "Would you like to come over for tea?"

She was quick to say of course, but before they could say their goodbyes Amaimon grabbed the phone from between Shiemi's fingers, "Do not eat all the snacks."

"Hey Amaimon." Her voice was nonchalant and the phone buzzed with her request to switch to a video chat, Shiemi reached over him to press accept. "Oh jeez you look awful."

He snarled and if the human beside him hadn’t been Shiemi he probably would have smashed the phone.

"He won’t talk about it." Shiemi said, face peeking over his shoulder to wave at her.

"You want ice cream?" Izumo asked.

"Rocky Road." Amaimon said.

"Alright I’ll be over soon." She hung up, Amaimon's stomach growling again with the promise of ice cream.

Shiemi didn’t keep him from the snacks anymore, letting him crunch his way through the candy as she cut the fruit tart into generous slices and set them out on plates and poured some tea. "Is there anything else you'd like?" She asked as Amaimon slowly shifted down his rock to sit in the grass, back propped up against the stone.

"Honeysuckles." He hadn’t had them in a long time, he could hardly remember their taste, but he’d found himself dreaming of them as he stared out over Shiemi's garden, old memories trying to chase away, or add to, the low he had currently found himself in.

Shiemi nodded and her familiar appeared beside her, the green man’s eyes not daring to meet Amaimon’s own. Before he knew it a large growth of honeysuckles grew beside him, their vines reaching over the rock in a gentle cascade of tendrils.

Their sweet, coiling scent rose in the air, filling Amaimon's mind with long ago memories. He had formed first with the honeysuckles, on a mountain in the sky far older than any demon or king, far older than humans.

Since before he had even gained consciousness the earth had always been reaching upwards, mountains stretching into the air, trees growing until they towered over the land.

Amaimon looked at his hand, his fingers, then to the sky. He could remember being new and looking to the stars at night, far closer then than they were here in the city. There had been so many nights in the beginning when he had reached up with the rest of the earth for the swaths of space that lay seemingly just beyond his finger tips.

The days had become weeks and months and years spent alone, the seasons drifting along as they were want to do. Winter became the revival of spring, the heats of summer became the harvests of fall, and the colors of the leaves had tumbled away to give way to winter's rest and needed silence.

Space above him told him who he was, the stars dictated his place and alignment; his rotation granted throughout the heavens.

Time told him his purpose, because simply existing wasn’t enough. As the earth spun it changed, the sun warmed the days and gave the moon its’ position in the night. He was the growth and the death, the push and pull, the give and take. He was the rabbits that scattered beneath his feet as he walked through his first territory and the hawks that dove gracefully through the air to capture them in their cage of talons.

Things were born and created, die and rotted. The rot became the dirt and the dirt became the grass, became the animals, became the prey, became the predators, became the rot.

Time murmured to him that he was a cycle, and so he was the circle that never ended, nestled in a solar system, in a galaxy, on his only known side of space.

That’s where Samael had first found him, in a honeysuckled forest high above that rivers and valleys.

And he’d wanted.

His first rut had been a desperate burn, a need greater than he had ever encountered. Samael had appeared like a mirage in the midst of his destruction and confusion.

Time finally within his reach and smelling of space.

Purpose murmuring promises of home.

He had made a point of seeking Samael out from then on and although their first coupling had been rough and rushed, there had been many soft moments between them, as quiet as clear nights and dewed over meadows.

With Samael had come Abduxuel, but the two were closer than binary stars, dancing each other ceaselessly.

And he’d wanted...

Wanted so badly to be apart of that, but he never could quiet measure up to their connection despite his importance in their picture. What was the point of space if no one could call it home? What was the point of time if no one could feel it? Without earth and the humans his cycles had created no one would look at the stars, no one would age. With no giver of definitions how could something be known, understood?

He had thought that was where he belonged. They gave him reason and place, he had wanted to give them the understanding that they existed, the undeniable reality of being known, experienced.

Then one day home had become purpose. Abduxuel had died and left Samael alone to tell Amaimon what he was and where he belonged and for once, just once he had let Amaimon into their dance, seeking the partner he’d lost.

And Amaimon had wanted.

He’d clung to Samael, to the things they together had denied him...even when it hurt him.

Then war had broken out, squabbles amongst them and despite Samael’s urgings Amaimon hadn’t picked a side. How could he?

He who understood better than perhaps any of the Baal that they were intertwined, tangled within each other. The sun, earth's main source of light and life, was a star, one of trillions in the universe. Abduxuel and Lucifer had been two sides of the same coin, to remove light from space would be to change it irrevocably. It was a role Samael just didn’t play the same as space and time king, that crown sitting sideways on his head.

The Baal may have separated into different beings, but the cycle of life was an interconnected one. The earth didn’t pick sides, to do so would be to deny his own nature as a conglomerate of elements locked within an eternal dance. The earth was every bit water, rot, light, time, fire, space, air, and animals as it was rocks and dirt. He couldn’t be separated from the others and neither could they...even when they acted like it.

He sighed softly, trying to push down the memories, left with a nagging worry. If he and Samael weren't able to work things out then he didn’t think the stars would ever look the same again.

Amaimon pulled a flower from the vine, pinching it off just below the calyx. His claws proceeded into the soft flesh, gently tugging out the stem inside the bloom to catch the nectar on his tongue.

Its' taste coated his mouth with a gentle warmth, the delicate sweetness one of the first tastes he’d known.

He handed one to Shiemi and she followed his lead, removing the nectar from the buds. Amaimon took a moment to watch her and appreciate the moment, she would die too one day, return to the earth that had made her.

It would be a bittersweet day and as heavy on his mind as the nectar on his tongue, things came and went and one day the atoms that had made her would become something or someone new and that was the beauty of it.

He would miss her....he missed Shiro after all, but he was learning to let it go, let it be okay. Animals died all the time and so did the people he cared about. One day someone would be born with with Shiro's smile, or his personality, the way his cheeks got red when he was angry, his scent. The earth didn’t horde things, it found the similarities within differences and so Amaimon had decided that despite his grief he would find the bits of Shiro left in the world and be happy that his friend was still out there in some capacity because that was how cycles worked, that was how he worked.

Izumo showed up a few minutes later carrying a grocery bag full of ice cream and extra bowls and spoons. She waved at them from across the garden, Shiemi's mom hovering behind her as she stepped out of Shiemi's house. They waved back, Amaimon even tossing a small wave towards Shiemi's mom, knowing the older human was still a bit suspicious of him and he supposed that was for good reason despite the fact that he’d never hurt Shiemi or Izumo.

He wished he could lay his claim on the both of them...but Samael was always so picky about such things and he wanted to see how things would turn out once Samael returned. He didn’t want the time king to direct his anger at them if they bore his claim.

He’d seen what Samael had done to Shiro, he didn’t want to put them through that.

Izumo settled down beside them and the tea party officially began, Shiemi pouring the tea as Izumo scooped ice cream, she was the first to speak up, "So, what's got you moping in Shiemi's garden?"

Amaimon looked down at his food, working through a few bites before deciding it was probably for the best if he just came out with it rather than try to hide it because they would keep asking if he didn’t. "I unclaimed Mephisto."

Shiemi sucked in a sharp breath, the two of them having hung around him and Rin long enough to know the implications of his words, "You broke up with him!?"

Izumo pushed the carton of ice cream towards him, "About time."

"Izumo!" Shiemi scolded.

"What?" Izumo asked, taking a long sip from her drink, "You heard all the things he’s done, Amaimon's right to break it off."

"Still you shouldn't say it like that," Shiemi said, her hand reaching to sit on his shoulder in a warming gesture, "How are you holding up?" She asked, although they all knew she already had her answer. Amaimon had shown up out of nowhere to essentially cry in her garden, curling up on a rock to glare with stinging eyes down to the stone beneath his scales.

He shrugged, "He's going to be mad."

Izumo nodded, a small shiver that Amaimon caught running over her, probably imaging what Mephisto must have been like when he was upset. Amaimon knew well enough that that wasn’t a pretty image.

"Are you going to stay here, in Assiah, I mean?" Shiemi asked softly after a few moments passed and Amaimon noticed the worry in her voice, her hand pulling away from his shoulder to fidget with the handle of her teacup.

She would miss him.

The thought hit him like one of Rin's punches to the face, eyes flicking to Izumo who kept her gaze decidedly on the ground as if she had found something of extreme importance inching its way along the grass.

They’d both miss him.

His eyes stung again.

"I am." He nodded, "I’m staying right here whether he likes it or not." He wasn’t going to make it easy for Samael to drive him away from the world he’d formed for himself. He wanted to stay.

Maybe not in his mansion, or in the city, but close enough to visit. Close enough to where they didn’t feel as if he had abandoned them...he knew that feeling all too well.

“You can was come stay with me if you’d like.” Shiemi offered with a careful smile.

“Same with me.” Izumo echoed and although Amaimon knew it would be unlikely that Samael would let him stay within the bounds of his territory he appreciated the sentiment.

He nodded his gratification, tail flicking behind him in a mix of emotions he was having trouble pinning down. He was upset that he had unclaimed Samael, scared of the consequences, but he was also happy with the bonds he’d forged with the two humans in front of him, their comfort welcomed where just months ago he would have felt weakened by their words and actions.

He had scoffed at the idea of making friends when Rin had told him he should try to interact with people more, but now he was glad he had. At first he had gone along with it to appease Rin, his desires so much easier to accommodate than Samael’s own. Yet, as time had gone by he’d grown to like Rin’s classmates and sought them out without his prompting, like now.

Amaimon could hardly remember when Samael had last asked him to do something that had actually helped him. Everything he did seemed to be in service to Samael’s plans and never to himself. He was trying to change that... but it was still difficult.

He didn’t even know if he’d get to see Rin anymore. Would the changes he had instilled in Amaimon persist if Samael forced them apart?

“I don’t think he’ll let me live so close,” he admitted, toying with his slice of fruit tart, watching a blueberry tumble off into the grass. “Demons are very possessive of their territories and to have another demon king that he doesn’t consider an ally anymore living so nearby wouldn’t be normal for us.” He explained, “Hopefully it won’t be forever though.”

“What do you mean?” Izumo asked, setting her now finished bowl of ice cream aside in favor of the cheesecake, Shiemi doing the same as Amaimon fell quiet for a short while.

When he did speak again his voice had a nervous edge that it hadn’t before, “I want us to be together again in the future.” Izumo opened her mouth to say something and it may have been a scold, but he never found out, continuing before her first few syllables could cross her lips, “I want to be claimed by and claim both Samael and Rin. But I can’t let Samael keep acting the way he has been, I need him to understand that despite our power differences if we’re going to have a full claim bond then he needs to act like it.”

“So this was to show him you’re tired of it, not to actually break up break up with him?” Shiemi asked.

He nodded, "I love the both of them...but Samael needs to change." He couldn’t put up with the time king promising to get better only to fall back into his bad habits. He needed to commit to improving and treating Amaimon like he was an important component of their claim. He didn’t want to be a pawn or an Abduxuel replacement, he wanted to be Samael's partner.

That was important to him.

"Good luck." Izumo said and while part of him believed that she meant that he could still hear the undercurrent of disbelief in her voice.

"With whatever happens," Shiemi said, completing Izumo's unspoken thought with a softer response.

"Thanks," There was a good chance he and Samael would never be together again and he didn’t know about Rin. Rin loved both of them and wouldn’t want to be caught in the middle.

An unnatural and strained silence fell between them, his sweets no longer tasting saccharine on his tongue. The back of his throat itched with what to say, but the words wouldn’t form, pressed back by a lump forming there. His eyes stung again, things weren’t going to go back to normal were they?

As the emotions began to overwhelm him a new sensation burst through his consciousness, ripping him from his thoughts. He gasped, eyes widening in blind terror. "Samael!" The name tore from his chest, his fork folding in half in his hand as he felt the time king disappear from the world.

Shiemi and Isumo's hands found him in the panic but he pushed himself away, falling backward to the ground, tearing back as fear ran rampant through him.

Come back. Come back. Come back!

He searched for Samael, the shock of him leaving Assiah rocking him. Samael wouldn’t leave without reason. He wouldn’t purposefully go to Gehenna and he was unwilling to leave his host and Amaimon had...

His claws tore into the front of his chest, his demonic form reappearing as the fabric shredded.

He had unclaimed Samael.

Forcefully.

He had hurt Samael.

Idiot! Idiot! Idiot!

He’d killed Samael's host.

Why didn’t he wait? Why didn’t he think? He knew Samael's host was barely holding on. He knew the consequences of unclaiming. Rin had already strained his host and on top of that he had been determined to go to the past. Samael was under too much pressure and he had worsened it. He’d been the last straw on the camel's back and Samael had been shoved back to Gehenna.

His breath came through his teeth fast and short, waiting and waiting for Samael to reform but he didn’t.

Minutes ticked by, Shiemi and Izumo staring at him as he trembled. He wanted to sink his claws into his throat, let the taste of blood and sting of pain distract him from the overwhelming guilt that ripped through him, rending his mind to pieces with the knowledge that he had hurt Samael to the point of nonreturn.

It didn’t feel like when Abduxuel had died, and somewhere in his mind he was grateful for that but it was readily swallowed by terror.

Samael wasn’t repossessing a host, he’d held on so long he’d hurt his aspect and couldn’t find a vessel.

He’d return to Gehenna and been shoved back into nonexistence, melting back into Satan’s flames and...

His gaze focused on Shiemi and Izumo, reforming after damage took time, time Lucifer wouldn’t grant. The light king would consider this a blessing, a checkmate in his game with Samael. He’d use his absence to take Rin, to destroy the world and everything Amaimon has grown to enjoy.

He was starting to understand why Samael was so adamant about fighting Lucifer because at some point Assiah, not Gehenna, had became his home.

And now he was going to lose all of it because he’d been rash, because he’d run ahead and let his heart tell him what to do as opposed to his head. Rin was going to die. Shiemi and Izumo were going to die.

And he wasn’t ready for any of that.

Somewhere in the mess his two humans had come to his side, reaching to touch him and soothe soft patterns over his back, his arms.

How was he supposed to tell them?

He had no idea, they didn’t even ask what was wrong, not yet anyway, waiting for him to get himself under control before bombarding him with questions.

Before he knew it an hour had passed and still, they sat steadfast beside him. He knew he should say something and slowly he mustered the strength, grateful for their patience and understanding. Finally his voice cracked broken from his throat, “Samael’s dead.”

Amaimon expected them to yell at him, to ask what he meant, to tell them it wasn’t true, but none of those things happened, the two of them turning to stone beside him until he heard a small, desperate sob cross Shiemi’s lips.

“What about Rin?”

Amaimon didn’t answer unsure of what she meant, was she asking if he was alive or-

“Without Sir. Pheles the Illuminati will-” Izumo whispered, Amaimon could hear how her heart skittered in rapid thumps against her ribs.

“They’ll kill Rin, Satan will...he’ll!” Shiemi’s eyes were wide and unseeing, glazed over with tears and horror, stricken with the magnitude of the situation they had just been thrown into.

“Assiah won’t last much longer.” Amaimon confirmed with a stiff nod.

“We have to tell the others. We have to alert the order.” Izumo said, swallowing thickly around her panic to stand, forcing herself to pull together, “If you know, then Lucifer knows.”

She was right of course, all the demon king's could feel one another enter and exit the world, a common consistent knowledge of one another’s whereabouts endlessly burned into the back of their conscious minds. With Samael gone for over an hour that could only indicate serious damage to his aspect or flat out inability to find a host. He could be gone for days if not centuries. It wasn’t a chance Lucifer would miss, he was opportunistic and quick and they had left themselves open to attack.

Although with Rin potentially trapped in the past who could say what Satan would do. Satan could time travel, that much Amaimon knew. He had all the powers of the kings, as the being that they had originated from their magic was his. However, he might be tempted to cause more destruction with Rin running around in the timeline. He was new to consciousness and could easily be distracted. With no idea of where Rin was in time there was no telling how Satan might ruin the present.

Amaimon stood as well, nodding to the both of them, agreeing that their best course of action was a defensive one even if he knew Lucifer could kill all of them with little thought. It was best to go down fighting.

However, as he moved and looked across the garden a new sensation ran up his spine, a feeling that he didn’t understand and yet felt deeply familiar with. "Wait..." he murmured, ears perking up to twitch towards he knew not what.

Old knowledge burned in his mind’s eyes, twisted and turned the deepest parts of his instincts. He could feel Samael return to Assiah but he wasn’t himself, wasn’t alone.

Shiemi’s hands caught his in her soft fingers and squeezed, “What is it?”

“He’s back...” he whispered, though he knew that wasn’t right. It was too strong of a distinction. It felt in a way similar to when Abduxuel had disappeared and so much dread filled him at the thought. When Abduxuel had died his power had cascaded into Samael, blending their beings, though to what extent Samael had never been forthright in telling.

“He’s back! That’s good, we’ll be okay,” Shiemi said, a smile breaking her pensive expression, but Amaimon shook his head.

“No he... he merged with Rin.” he could see it in his mind, Rin’s steadfast existence and within it, coiling and tangling about his being, was Samael.

He really was dead.

Maybe they could be strong enough to beat Satan and Lucifer back now with all of the time king’s power endowed onto Rin, but Amaimon had only felt this sort of mixing once and last time...he’d never seen Abduxuel again.

Tears streamed down his cheeks.

“We might be safe...” he managed to say because the humans beside him deserved that much, “But I doubt we’ll see Samael again.”

They had probably claimed one another at the last minute, ensured that connection before Samael died so his energy wouldn’t go to Lucifer. Now that he had cut ties with the time king the power would have been relegated to the next strongest king who could take his aspect, but they must have known that that would doom them further.

Now Rin would hold within him both Samael and Abduxuel’s power.

Izumo and Shiemi stared at him as he processed this information, scared to speak, unsure of what to say. On one hand Rin would be stronger than ever, but on the other it didn’t matter how strong he was if he couldn’t control the power, they weren’t out of the woods yet...still… “We should wait in case something else happens.” He said, nodding to himself as he sunk back down into the grass, letting the blades ground him to the moment.

They sat beside him as he took a deep breath, murmuring his explanation as he regained control of his mind, forcing himself to think through the pain of losing Samael.

“I’ve already explained claiming to you,” he started, their nods his silent signal to continue, "When a demon dies their power goes to a claim and Samael he went to Rin. A king has never died from losing their host before, we always leave before we damage our aspects too much but Samael...Samael was always so stubborn about that one." He should have let it go decades ago, even with his powers he had been overdoing himself for so long. Without his magic he hardly lasted longer than Lucifer ever did, going two centuries without changing hosts when clones were readily available to him had been idiotic, but Amaimon had learned not to question it. "His power is Rin's now. It’s best that we wait for him to come back."

With the game Samael had created derailed so completely it was best to wait, even if only for a few minutes. He knew Lucifer well enough to know the light king wouldn’t make an immediate move now, there was too much in the air, too many unknowns.

They sat, Amaimon on high alert as they settled into a quiet watch, waiting for what Rin would decide to do next.

* * *

"I promise."

Rin's hand met Samael's through the glass, the touch lingering for just a moment before the time king disappeared from the tube he was suspended in. He reappeared a moment later beside Rin, naked and still covered in a bit of slime that made Rin's nose crinkle with how sterile it smelled.

Mephisto glanced down at himself, flicking his tail around his new body and wiggling his toes. It’d been a long time since he’d possessed a body with the intent of keeping it, "How do I look?"

"Mostly the same," Rin chuckled, reaching out for Mephisto, cupping his cheeks, letting his fingers brush through the time king's new beard. "I like your hair, though, I’m not so sure about the beard, might be a bit scratchy."

Mephisto laughed, running a hand through his now much longer hair, purple cascading over his pale skin, "It was always so troublesome to cut the clone's hair when they were in tubes, so we usually just let them grow it out instead of bothering with pulling them out of suspension."

Rin followed Mephisto's fingers, tracing them through the hair, "You should keep it long when you clean up."

Mephisto did just that a second later, snapping his fingers again to leave him dried, his tail tangling against Rin's own. "Rin," He murmured, taking Rin’s hands in his own, "We should talk."

It was something he had never truly expected to hear from the demon, an adamant admission that they needed to communicate. Rin would have to mark the day down in his calendar to celebrate its' anniversary. He squeezed Mephisto's hand in a quiet gesture of encouragement, "We should."

A few quiet seconds passed as Mephisto seemed to gather himself, Rin just barely picking up in how his tail trembled with worry, "I lost Henry not long after I lost Abduxuel to Lucifer's curse." He began, looking down at where their bodies met and verbalizing things he’d hid for so long despite knowing that Rin knew all of him now because Rin deserved that common decency. "The cure to the curse was to love Abduxuel and I thought I did, I thought our connection was enough, but it wasn’t and then when I saw Henry again I realized why, but I couldn’t face that." He shook his head, taking a slow breath and holding it for a moment, "I still don’t think can."

"It’s okay." Rin reassured.

"Even if I can’t say it?"

Rin nodded, "I know you love me and Amaimon, that’s enough." For now anyway, he would still like to hear it, but their merging had shown him that Mephisto still needed some time to reach that point. After suppressing the emotions for so long being upfront with them would not come easy, but he appreciated the effort.

"I should have...Abduxuel should have been my first." Mephisto admitted, the words strained and ladened with a long held guilt, "But he wasn’t." Henry had taken that position for him, had taught him love in the human sense, had shown him the line in the sand he hadn’t spotted yet.

"If the two of you were happy then that’s all that mattered." Rin assured, lowering the both of them to the cool laboratory ground. It was an odd place to be having such a conversation, but he wanted them to at least be semi-comfortable while talking. Mephisto rested his head carefully on his shoulder, "Lucifer shouldn’t have done what he did, you can’t blame yourself for that."

"But I don’t think he was happy," No, Mephisto knew Abduxuel hadn’t been happy. Yet even now he couldn’t outwardly verbalize that. "We got in so many fights and I know he wanted more from me, but I wasn’t ready." Rin’s fingers rubbed a soothing circle on the back of his hand, easing him through his thoughts, “He called me love, you know, right before he was cursed and I thought he was just mimicking human behavior but now I know he meant it and I still..I still asked him why he said it. I hurt him.”

He had hurt his twin aspect so many times, a knowledge that he had only come to understand after it was too late to do anything. Abduxuel was gone. There were no do overs, he’d tried. He’d tried to reset the timeline only to find that every last bit of Abduxuel had been scrubbed from existence. Only the demon king’s who had existed in the moment of Abduxuel’s death had known him. Past versions of him, of any of the Baal, had never encountered the space king. It was the same for future versions of them. Lucifer has derailed their timeline to the point of no repair when he’d killed Abduxuel, sending them off track into a bubble of a universe far flung from what it should have been.

He used to be able to travel forward in time, but now he was afforded no such luxury, stuck as the farthest along Samael in his own distinct timeline.

"Being human is hard, isn’t it?" Rin hummed under his breath, the words soft and almost teasing. Mephisto's gaze shot to him, misunderstanding in his eyes, Rin smiled up at him, "Humans don’t have a redo button, like you do, when people die they stay dead."

A moment passed between them as Rin's words sunk in. They pained him. It was a truth that was blatantly obvious and unsettling.

Yes, people died everyday, but not every death was a personal one. Losing people he cared about was fundamentally different than the death of a random stranger, but he had been treating the two scenarios as if they were one in the same and growing angry when he found his emotions treating them differently.

"What’s the point then." He asked, throat clenching about the words. He had asked himself before, back at the beginning of all of it, how humans could stand being mortal, but he had hardly faced the question with any real willpower since. He had looked down at Henry, dying because he hadn’t been able to save him and asked a question he now knew Henry must have asked himself before he’d sunken his knife into his wrists, "What’s the point of caring if people just die?"

"Why does there have to be a point?" Rin asked in response and it was so quick and clean of an answer that it made Mephisto sputter for a moment because what kind of question was that? Things had points. Purposes. Rin didn’t seem to care. "Why do you play video games?"

The question didn’t make sense for the conversation, Mephisto shaking his head, “Rin that’s n-”

"Why, Samael?"

He swallowed, not understanding. He didn’t really have an answer, not a solid one anyway. It was too broad of an inquiry. Some games he played because he liked the characters, some he liked the strategy, some were relaxing, others blissfully frustrating, "I mean I just like them, there’s a lot of reasons," he guessed. Rin had seen why he liked him, all the different play styles and adventures he enjoyed. "They're fun."

"That’s the point." Rin said decisively, but Mephisto still wasn’t so sure about his train of thought. "You play video games because they are fun, there’s lots of reasons why you find them fun, and you enjoy them. That’s it." He tugged Mephisto's other hand into his own and squeezed, their fingers interconnecting tightly as he made his point.

"There’s no 'point' to loving someone. You just do. You love someone because they make you happy and that’s enough. Sure, people die, but it’s about what happens before then, not the predictable outcome." He tugged Mephisto's head to his chest, the time king feeling his words as regenerations through his ribs, "You play games because you like them, not because they'll end one day. That’s what it’s like to be human, to love even though you know what will happen."

Mephisto's eyes fell closed as he listened, trying to envision what Rin said, finding in his mind that Rin had already given him a picture when their minds had merged. Year after year the trees bloomed in beautiful succession, only to die within weeks and yet...yet he enjoyed every petal and looked forward to when they would bloom again.

"People come in and out of our lives. Shiro died...it was the first death I’d ever experienced. It hurt, but at the same time I met some of my best friends and I met you and Amaimon too."

How foolish would it be to hold himself back from enjoying the flowers simply because they died? Why would he deny himself that just because he knew winter was around the corner?

Was it not enough to find happiness in the moment, reassured that new flowers, new people would come into his life and he would enjoy them just as much?

"Oh." The word escaped him quietly, ears falling against his head, "I’ve wasted so much time."

"Then it's a great time to start."

He supposed Rin was right, the best he could do was try to be better now so he would regret less in the future, still... "I just wish I had loved Abduxuel..."

"You did love him, Samael." Rin reassured, wrapping his arms around his slender frame and squeezing him tight.

Confusion filled Mephisto at the statement. Abduxuel had died because he hadn’t loved him. If he had then his twin would still be with him and all the pain he had gone through would have been nothing more than a bad nightmare. He wanted to ask what Rin meant, tell him that no, he hadn’t loved Abduxuel, but Rin beat him to the punch.

“I saw, when we mixed, I saw that you loved him.” Rin assured, “Maybe it wasn’t the kind of love that cured the curse, but it was still love.”

“The kind?”

“There’s lots of ways to love someone, romantically, platonically, how you can love family, or any number of people. To say that love is one thing and one thing only isn’t how it works.”

Mephisto frowned, he knew that humans had many different ways that they thought about love, but to have those ways actually be different, enough to impact Abduxuel’s death was something he hadn’t considered. He had taken long enough to accept that he loved Henry; he’d spent even longer denying that fact. Breaking down what sort of love he felt towards people was another task entirely.

“You loved Abduxuel like you love yourself.” Rin said definitively, tilting Mephisto’s head up so that he could look at him better, “Maybe that wasn’t the right type of love, but you still cared for him and seeing your memories I can tell that he cared for you too.”

Mephisto shook his head in Rin’s hand, not wanting to turn away and longing to be out from under the younger demon’s gaze all at once, “He wanted more than that, wanted for more than us to be parts of each other.”

“He did.” Rin confirmed and to hear it so bluntly brought fresh tears to Mephisto’s eyes, “But do you think he’d like you hating yourself like this? Do you think that’s what he’d want?”

“It doesn’t matter what he would have wanted, he’s dead.” He managed, not wanting to see what Rin was trying to tell him, Rin’s fingers smoothing away the dampness on his cheek, so soft he could hardly stand to take it. Abduxuel had died centuries ago, what he would have thought of Mephisto now was something he wasn’t fond of thinking about because he knew his twin would be disappointed in him and his actions. Asking himself what Abduxuel would have wanted in the end changed nothing, it was a useless exercise that had only ever brought him pain. Didn’t Rin know that? Hadn’t he seen the sleepless nights he had spent staring at the walls in his room asking himself what Abduxuel would think of him now?

“Amaimon unclaimed you.”

Mephisto growled under his breath, talk about rubbing salt in his wounds, but Rin continued to talk anyway.

“That’s why teleporting became harder for you, and I snapped and almost hurt Henry, that’s why you brought us here, despite how it almost killed you. But if you had actually died, or gone back to Gehenna for a long time, would you want Amaimon to blame himself? Would you want me to blame myself?”

What?

He shook his head on reflex, before he could even form a verbal answer. No of course he wouldn’t want that. “Amaimon unclaimed me because we keep getting into arguments,” that much was easy to guess. He’d wondered several times before why it hadn’t happened sooner, “And you lost control, you wouldn’t have tried to hurt Henry normally.” Rin’s anger had been his fault too, he’d put up so many walls and pushed until Rin didn’t know what else to do. He had backed the younger into a corner and then asked him not to bite.

“Then why do you think Abduxuel would blame you?”

“I don’t -“

“Don’t lie to me.” Rin said, voice stern now, commanding Mephisto’s attention. “I know you think he would. I saw it. You think he would hate you for what happened, that he would blame you and dislike who you are now, but that’s all just an excuse to feel that way about yourself.”

Mephisto pushed himself away from Rin and he let him go, let him slide back across the floor to put the space he needed between them.

Seeing Rin now was worse than seeing his past self, because where he would have backed off by now, Rin wouldn’t budge. Rin knew him now, arguably better than he knew himself because he could step back from the emotions and Mephisto knew that he was right.

He had known all those things for a long time, known he had wrapped up his own anger and self hatred in a fantasy that Abduxuel would feel that way about him, would want him to hate himself, but he’d long since shoved that knowledge away because facing it head on was painful.

But Rin didn’t know how to do anything but face problems head on and now he was stuck looking at a version of himself that was going to hold him fully countable.

After a moment of letting him sit against the cold floor and process the conversation Rin spoke again, "What Abduxuel would have thought matters because it’s what you would have thought about me and Amaimon if you'd died." He stood and walked over to the time king, "You wouldn't have wanted us to hate ourselves and you don’t blame us because you realize we didn’t do those things to hurt you, it wasn’t our fault." He reached his hand out for Mephisto to take, a lifeline across the confusion that had settled in Mephisto's mind and heart as Rin spoke the words he’d needed to hear for so, so long, "Samael, it’s not your fault Abduxuel died."

It was. He wanted to scream those words at him, wanting to curl back in on himself and hide the soft underbelly he’d accidentally exposed. Wouldn’t it just be easier to go back to hiding?

No. It wouldn’t. Looking back down at his new hands he knew that to be true and he knew Rin wouldn’t have offered change if he had known a safer path was available. His hiding had nearly killed him, had lost him a host that he shouldn’t have held onto for so long in the first place.

He reached up, taking Rin's hand and letting the younger pull him up.

"Abduxuel wouldn’t want this." Rin said as he squeezed Mephisto's hand.

"How do you know..?" Mephisto asked one last time, the last of his insecurity wrapped up in those words and intertwined with their fingers.

"It’s the same as how I know now that Shiro wouldn’t want me to blame myself for his death, that he’d want me to move on and find new ways to be happy, new people to care about." Rin answered, voice patient as if to say that he would tell Mephisto the same words over and over again for as long as he needed to hear it. Overflowing with love, "He might be dead so he can’t say any of that to me, but me knowing it, knowing that’s the kind of person he was is important to me and it always will be."

For the first time in a long time Samael imagined Abduxuel happy, his fangs peeking out behind his lips as he smiled, eyes crinkling at the edges. His tail wagged about under a long robe he’d draped himself in, early morning light spilling over his hair which had curled in the humidity left behind from a midnight thunderstorm. He was excited about a play they were going to later that day, carrying on about going into town and getting those delightful little pastries he liked from the bakery and packing them away for the performance along with a good wine to share.

Mephisto wanted nothing more than to grab his tail, run his fingers through the fur and tell his twin that they still had hours to wait, that he should relax and not worry about what to wear or what to eat because with him everything was perfect and it always would be.

Even on their bad days, even when they fought things always turned out alright and although he knew now that Abduxuel had wanted more he also understood now that he would have gotten there on his own with time. Lucifer shouldn’t have sped them up.

That hadn’t been Lucifer’s move to make.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, allowing the image of Abduxuel rotting, of his pinning him to the ground and blaming him as his face melted to rot and maggots, to blur and drift from him like murk down a stream.

Rin was right.

If he had died he wouldn’t have wanted Amaimon or Rin to think of his ghost pointing fingers at them, Abduxuel was the same.

Rin wrapped him up in his arms and he felt small, but also safer than he had in centuries, understood despite everything.

"When you love someone you want them to be happy."

Rin echoed the sentiment he had heard from humans time and time again, yet it was only now that it properly sunk in that that applied to him too, that maybe, just maybe he could try to be happy for Abduxuel’s sake.

He nodded, a new plan forming in his mind to work around the truths Rin had thrust out into the open, "We need to go home."

"We need to talk to Amaimon." Rin hummed and it was the understatement of the year, but Rin was teaching him that the best time to start was now.

However, "Rin?"

"Yeah?"

"I want to claim you." Rin blinked up at him, pulling his head away from his chest and Mephisto stopped the question on his lips before it was given form, "Not yet though and not because I can’t say those words yet," not yet, those three words would take practice and patience on both their parts, "But because I think we should talk to Amaimon first. I want him to claim me before we do anything else."

Rin’s confused face split into a wide grin that Mephisto hadn’t expected. He had figured Rin would be a bit disappointed that he still didn’t want to claim him, but instead Rin smiled at him in a way that Mephisto could swear was near blinding.

"I think that’s a great idea." Rin said, voice reassuring. Amaimon needed to be caught up on everything that had happened and seeing the two of them with a completed claim bond would likely send the wrong message.

Rin knew that the earth king didn’t feel on equal footing with Mephisto when it came to their relationship. To see them, their problems resolved and fully claimed wouldn’t help. If anything it would look like Mephisto had retaliated against being unclaimed by picking Rin, a stronger demon, instead and the last thing they needed were more misunderstandings.

“We shouldn’t leave him waiting. He was able to feel what happened.”

Rin nodded, a few hours ago he would have asked how Amaimon had felt it, still unsure of how interconnected the demon king’s were, but Mephisto's memories had answered many of his questions about what being a demon involved, "When will I be able to feel you guys like that?" He asked instead as Mephisto snapped to clothe his new body and give Rin a clean outfit as well.

"I had assumed it would come with your awakening, but it seems that knowledge will have to come with practice as you were not formed directly from Satan's flames, although I wonder if it will be easier now that we have mixed." Mephisto hummed, letting the question wash away the last tendrils of caution he harbored. There was no point to holding onto it any longer.

Moving forward was something he’d never been good at. In theory he was all about progression, the movement from the now into the what will be, but in practice he was anything but.

He practiced timelines over and over again to get them as correct and smooth as possible, ironing away the bumps instead of rolling with the punches because when those punches came he found them too painful to bear. He couldn’t stand anymore shake ups after Abduxuel's death, yet they still came even though he tried to rub them away.

Rin though, Rin was a good shakeup. Maybe some unknowns were worth the trouble of not knowing what was around the corner, even if it made him nervous.

Now he knew that he could reach out to take the younger demon's hand in his own, and he would for as long as Rin lived.

He had held so much back from Shiro while he was alive, so many secrets and opportunities for laughter, so many feelings and words that should have been said. He did the same to Amaimon, every day he looked at him and felt love swell in his chest, only to lash out physically instead.

It was time for a change, he couldn’t hold back any more, couldn’t hide because he was scared of losing those he cared about. In the end all that did was cause them more pain and leave him wondering how things might have been if he’d been honest with himself and others.

Mephisto lifted his hand into the air and snapped.

* * *

Amaimon's hackles rose as Rin and Mephisto appeared in Shiemi's garden, his body on high alert.

He had felt Samael take a new host.

The sensation washed over him along with a multitude of emotions. The first was relief, his worries about Satan killing Rin and Lucifer ending the world easing if only for a little while. The next was happiness because despite everything he was glad that Samael was okay, yet just behind this feeling fear rushed in to take its place.

He had hurt Samael, injured his host and brought him to the breaking point. It was not something Samael would let slide. Amaimon could already feel his claws digging into his stomach, punishing him for unclaiming the time king and for putting all his carefully laid plans in jeopardy. Samael's retribution would be swift and painful and after that...

Well, Amaimon didn’t know what would come after that. He had intended his unclaiming to be what forced Samael into facing his emotions and the cracks in their relationship, but he would be in no such mood after losing his favorite host.

Amaimon doubted Samael would let him heal, breaking him over and over until he himself had to retreat back to Gehenna and face the agony of non-existence.

An eye for an eye.

Would they want to talk after that? What would be the point of it? Surely the separation between them was too wide a gap to bridge. What would Rin think? What would Rin do?

Amaimon had to face these questions far sooner than he had hoped, the time king appearing in front him, Rin at his side. Amaimon wanted to back away, tension winding through his body. It would be safer for him to bolt, to leave Samael's territory and avoid him for the next several hundred years. He itched to tuck tail and run, his feet digging into the earth until the dirt shifted under him, ready to push off and flee.

But he couldn’t.

For as much as he trembled, as much as he ached to disappear, he couldn’t find it in him to run.

Shiemi and Izumo were here.

If he ran, would Samael's anger lash out at them instead?

Samael knew he cared for them and likely suspected that he wished to claim them. Would he threaten them to draw him in? Did he even need to when just the thought of it kept him tethered to the spot?

His gaze flicked to Rin’s own, trying to play out what was about to happen in his mind. If Samael attacked Shiemi and Izumo Rin would step in, Amaimon had no doubt about that. The time king wouldn’t lose this time though, Rin was strong, but Samael had a brand new host and years more practice with his magic. Rin could hold up for a while, but in the end Samael would win, more than able to outlast the younger demon.

It wasn’t even a competition anymore.

His fists balled, nails digging into his palms until blood welled under his fingertips and slid around his white knuckles.

Could he grab Shiemi, Izumo, and Rin and run before Samael could stop him? Would Rin let him?

He didn’t seem nervous as he stood there beside Samael, a calm he couldn’t understand pouring off of him. Didn’t Rin know how upset Samael had to be? Didn’t he see the cracks in Mephisto’s mask?

The tension in the air was so close to breaking him in half.

"Amaimon."

He flinched, wide, slit pupiled eyes snapping to Samael, his teeth creaking against the clench he had brought them to.

Samael's voice sounded too relaxed, too soothing to be his own in this moment, commanding, grounding, and soft.

Amaimon didn’t understand.

He stepped back, shaking his head, terrified, but Rin was beside him in an instant, fingers brushing gently against the back of his hand before he could register the movement. He wanted to look at him, to scream at him what was happening, wanted to grab his wrist now that he was closer and run and run and run.

But it’d be dangerous to take his eyes off Samael.

The time king moved, Amaimon steadying himself, bringing his free hand out to block Izumo and Shiemi behind him, making his intentions clear. If he couldn’t hide then he sure as hell wouldn’t let Samael near them.

Samael didn’t come closer, though.

Instead his legs gave out under him, sending him bowing to his knees, his head tilting up to expose his neck in a clear display of submission.

"Amaimon, please, claim me."

“No.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another cliffhanger ~
> 
> Poor Amaimon does not know what is going on.


	12. On Your Heart.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rin and Samael are back, but things are still shaky and Amaimon knows it’s going to take more than just words to fix what the time king broke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long to update y’all, I took a break with my very horny fic The Harvest Glut and lemme tell ya I needed it. During that period I applied for and was excepted into Grad School! It was a stressful process, but hey, I got it and despite Covid I get to move on campus.
> 
> Speaking of which tho my updates are gonna be a bit slower starting next month because well, I’m a in graduate school, that’s a lot! I’m excited tho ÙwÚ. 
> 
> Anyway hope you guys like!

"No."

The word slipped from him without his permission, his emotions welling to the surface to push from the back of his throat in a desperate hiss. 

Amaimon’s eyes widened, hand lifting to claw at his neck, his word striking fear into the deepest reaches of him. Blood welled up under his claws sluicing down his front.

He had denied Samael.

He’d been given one chance, one opportunity to make things right, to take back his foolish mistakes and he'd thrown it away. Samael had been gracious enough to offer him an out and he’d thrown it back in the time king's face.

Now...

Now Amaimon didn’t know what would happen. Well, that was a lie, he knew what would happen. What he didn’t know was how he would face it.

His fear of what Samael would do when he arrived doubled, quadrupled. There could be no denial of his unclaiming now, no rushed explanations when his words had already betrayed him. 

Amaimon needed to leave, immediately. 

He twisted in Rin's hold, claws snagging around the fabric of Rin’s shirt, dragging him forcefully away, he sprinted, snatching Shiemi with his other hand and Izumo in his mouth, his fangs digging into the collar of her shirt. It was messy and ineloquent, a fumbling retreat, but he needed to get away. He needed to get the people he cared about as far from Samael as possible. 

He couldn’t lose anyone else. 

He was going to lose Samael and he’d already lost Shiro and he couldn’t take anymore. 

Amaimon was breaking, he felt it in the whimpers he muffled in Izumo's shirt as panicked tears blinded his eyes.

He didn’t make it far.

He was crushed beneath an all too familiar presence, Samael tackling him to the ground. He screamed; he kicked and thrashed violently, body aching with its’ demand that he flee.

Rin pulled away from him, a betrayal that had Amaimon struggling further, free hand scratching into the ground until his flesh pulled free from the bones of his fingers, trying to claw his way towards the younger. 

He could hear Shiemi's and Izumo's hearts pounding in their chests, their fear and confusion probably drawing Samael in further as he screamed, "Stop! Samael don't!"

"He’s not going to do anything," Rin said, coming back to him and Amaimon snarled loud and deep. Izumo, whose neck was just beneath his fangs, shivered and trembled against the ground in instinctive fear.

He wanted to trust Rin, he really, really did...but Samael was too close to him. He was too pressured. He gathered his legs up under him as best as he could and pushed, the ground creaking under Amaimon as he caused a small earthquake that would have been much larger if Samael's power had not flexed around him and pressed down. 

"Amaimon, you need to relax," the time king said and there was a softness in his voice that Amaimon couldn’t parse. 

"Mephisto, you're scaring him. You need to let him go," Rin cut in, laying a hand on Samael's shoulder as confusion began to overwhelm Amaimon’s fear, his snarls and struggles tapering off. 

Samael paused, his piercing gaze leaving the back of Amaimon's neck in a motion that made him want to try running again, instincts screaming to go while Samael was distracted and he almost did, but then Rin was speaking again.

"Even if he runs Mephisto, you have to let him go and trust he'll come back."

Samael mulled the words over for a moment, mouth opening to speak before gently lifting his body away from Amaimon’s own and this time Amaimon didn't hesitate like he had moments before. He jumped up, shifting Izumo into his now free hand and running across the length of Sheimi's garden despite their protests. He ripped the door to Sheimi’s home open, shoving them both inside, "Run,” He instructed, "Use the key you have to get to the cram school and run from there. Now." 

He knew that it wouldn’t be enough if Samael was determined. Nothing would be. 

He slammed the door hard in their faces, whipping around with a growl, ears pressed close to his head. His chest heaved, anger and fear coursing its way through him as he stared Samael down and said what very easily could have been his last words for a long, long time, "Do not hurt them. Swear it.”

Making a demand right now was incredibly out of line for his ranking within the Baal and he and Samael both knew it, but he wasn’t about to go without trying to protect Sheimi and Izumo now. 

“Amaimon he’s not-“ Rin said, brows pinched together in pain, arms raised in the air like white flags, but Amaimon paid them little mind. He loved Rin, but Rin was more human than demon and he could not speak to Samael’s true intentions. No one could really. Not even Satan or Lucifer seemed to be able to untangle the web that constructed his concept. 

His eyes bored holes into Samael’s own, bristling fangs bared in a challenging snarl. He saw Samael’s lip twitch with the instinct to mirror the expression, most likely held down only by his crushing anger which almost always pushed him into a dangerously cool facade, “Swear it. On your heart.”

“Amaimon-” Samael’s voice came out more strained than Amaimon thought it should, shocking him with the tension there, the hidden pain that sounded so close to cracking to the surface. 

He shook his head to clear the doubts beginning to form in the back of his mind, clenching his fists and cutting the time king off before he could say anymore, “Swear it, Samael. Swear it and you can do whatever you want to me just so long as you don’t hurt them, or Rin, or anyone else this time.” 

A pained expression brought Samael’s brows together, his lips pressing into a thin line, “I...” he paused for a moment and it made Amaimon tremble with the fear that he was about to tell him that Amaimon wasn’t in any position to be making demands. He was too far down their rankings, he was lucky he hadn’t already been killed. He was lucky Samael tolerated him, let alone let Amaimon claim him in the first place. “I swear.”

Amaimon stood quiet for a moment, shocked, but he quickly shoved this reaction down to snarl again, “On what?”

“My heart.” Samael said, a whine Amaimon refused to recognize slipping into the syllables, “I swear on my heart, my aspect.” 

Amaimon didn’t really know what to do now. Didn’t know what came next, honestly he’d made it farther than he had expected by a landslide, but he’d also just promised Samael that he could do whatever he wanted to him, whatever he saw fit. 

His head fell back and he crumbled to his knees, presenting his neck. Whatever Samael decided to do now was on him. It was a small price to pay to protect those he had grown attached too.

The emotion was so human it felt like it would rend him to pieces, just as he suspected Samael's teeth and claws soon would, but he was growing to accept the seeds of humanity that had been planted inside him. 

Samael was on him in an instant. 

He flinched as fangs settled against his neck, aching to fight back, to dig his claws into Samael, but if he did Samael might consider their deal null and void. So he sat, waiting and trying to calm his heartbeat. 

If he showed fear it could be worse. 

And then arms wrapped around him, Samael panting hard through his nose. 

Amaimon didn’t know what to do. 

They sat like that for a very, very long time. 

So long that Rin walked closer, quiet and non threatening to settle near them in the grass. 

The sun went down. Amaimon wondered how far away Sheimi and Izumo were by now. He also wondered what it might be like to crystallize right there on the ground against Samael, like Azazel had years and years ago. Maybe he wouldn’t have to wonder about what was going on then. 

The stars and the moon rose into the sky and he tilted his gaze up. He was a long, long ways away from the mountains he had first found himself in and yet, here was space and time, something he had desired above all else, settled in his arms.

Samael shifted, drawing his teeth slowly from Amaimon's neck, finally allowing Amaimon to heal from the shallow bite he had placed there. He ducked his head low, making it impossible for Amaimon to see his expression as he merely laid back down against him, face returning to his shoulder in a way that made Amaimon assume they were settling in for another few hours of whatever seemed to be going on. That’s why he flinched, unable to hold down the reaction when a Samael broke the unnatural silence a minute later, "Rin, it's late...you've had a long day, you should rest."

So they were going to sit for longer.

Lay stagnant in this unknown space Samael had somehow created when he hadn’t ripped Amaimon to bloody shreds the moment he got his claws on him. After all this time Amaimon still hadn’t returned the embrace, arms handing limp at his side and he didn’t intend to change that, no matter how long Samael insisted they sit. 

"Not yet." Rin said and he did sound tired, like he hadn’t slept in years, in eons, like he had walked the world and back and never found a bed. 

"Go." Amaimon choked out, surprised to find his voice tight despite having so carefully controlled his natural reactions for the hours Samael had kept them still. "He doesn’t want you to see what comes next." It was the only explanation that seemed to work in his mind. Samael had, for some reason, decided he didn’t intend to frighten Rin by letting him see how he would hurt Amaimon. It probably had something to do with his plans, it was always about his plans. If he scared Rin away now it might ruin all of his hard work. Samael was waiting Rin out, waiting until he left of his own violation or Samael had an understandable reason to shoo him away. 

Amaimon wasn’t going to let Samael off so easy. Even now a small spark of defiance coiled in his gut. Rin deserved the truth of the monster Samael was. The time king had sworn on his heart that he wouldn’t hurt Rin and to Amaimon that included deceiving him so he could hurt the younger demon later after Rin let his guard down or slipped up one too many times. 

"What comes next." Rin asked, too soft.

"The same thing that always happens." A beating. A skewering. A vacation in Samael's shadow dimension; it didn’t fucking matter, because it was all bad and it all hurt and Amaimon was so, so fucking tired. 

"I don’t know..." the whisper coiled into the night air, sliding between Samael's teeth before brushing along Amaimon’s neck and out into the open. It made a Amaimon want to jerk away.

What did he mean he didn’t know?

Samael never admitted to not knowing something. 

A frustrated whine built in Samael’s chest to keen through his lips and Amaimon began to tremble with confusion. Why the hell wasn't Samael just hurting him? Amaimon understood that pain, it didn’t require thought or questions. In its own way it was easy, familiar. He would have taken it over...over whatever this was any day.

"I've never done this."

Never done what? He wanted to scream. He wanted Samael to lash out so he could stop being confused. He wanted to tangle his hands in his hair and pull until he was bald. 

Rin came even closer now, reaching out for Amaimon as he spoke, “Can I touch you, Amaimon?”

“No.” The answer was hollow and distant, but if it hurt Rin then the half demon didn’t show it. 

Instead Rin placed his hand on Samael’s shoulder, reassuring Amaimon in a manner he hadn’t quiet experienced before, “That’s okay.” He turned his attention fully to Samael, “Maybe start at the beginning?” 

Samael moved now to sit back, nodding slowly. He looked as if he were attempting to unscramble a complex puzzle, unweave a long set in stone tapestry, gingerly tracing the threads back, “When I formed...when we formed, Abduxuel and I...” 

Amaimon winced, searching Samael’s face with wide eyes, his pupils narrowing to barely visible pinpricks as he lost control of his physical reactions, heart stammering in his chest. He hadn’t heard that name from Samael’s lips in years. Samael refused to talk about him, about what had happened. How could Rin have possibly gotten Samael to the point where he could talk about his twin aspect in the span of just a few days...something Amaimon hadn’t been able to accomplish in two centuries? 

Anger and jealousy tore into his gut, aimed at Rin and ravenously frustrated. Amaimon had tried and tried to help Samael through at least a bit of the grief he had always denied. Even before he had learned of his human emotions he had tried to be loyal and reliable for Samael, a stable place for the time king to rest. But Samael had never let him, had never even extended the courtesy to try let alone return the favor. 

Yet, here Rin was, unlocking parts of Samael that had long been hidden from him.

His ears lowered, Rin was so much stronger than him. He was going to beat Satan and rule the Baal one day. Of course Samael had opened up to him and not someone as low ranking and weak as Amaimon. He really had just been an Abduxuel replacement all along and now Samael had a better toy to play with. 

He began to shift away from Samael, understanding now that no true physical pain would come. Samael was letting him off easy in that regard...but he was done playing with him. 

A hand reached out and grabbed his wrist, Samael holding him tight and it almost triggered a saddened growl to escape his all too tight chest, but then he remembered how Samael had knelt before him and asked Amaimon to claim him.

Had that been a trick?

Had it been a sweet lie to draw Amaimon in, one that hadn’t worked so they’d had to pin Amaimon down? 

Samael began to speak again, eyes searching Amaimon’s own, “Back then we paid so little attention to everyone else and even though I knew you wanted to be part of us I didn’t let you.”

Amaimon winced at the reminder, pointedly looking anywhere that wasn’t Samael. The emotion in the elder’s eyes seemed so out of place in Samael who only ever truly expressed exhaustion and anger save for a few very rare warm moments. 

“I’m sorry.”

What?

Amaimon blinked, gaze snapping back to Samael’s own in shock and borderline horror. The last time he’d heard Samael legitimately apologize was after he’d almost killed Shiro in his fit of jealous rage. 

Back then they’d wound up in a garden too. 

But Shiro was so, so small compared to this, compared to Abduxuel. 

Rin nodded to Samael’s side hand moving to rub a soothing circle across the time king’s back as he took over in the silence that followed Samael’s words, “Mephisto lost his host while we were in the past,” he started, waiting until Amaimon nodded his understanding before continuing, “When he did he damaged his aspect enough to have to leave Assiah.” 

Amaimon knew that too, he had felt Samael die, felt him almost return to Satan’s fires but instead-”

“His aspect mixed with mine and I, we, saw everything.”

Oh.

So that’s why they didn’t seem to be fighting anymore, there wasn’t much need for discussions when their minds had become one. 

"Rin, he, loves and I-" Samael spoke up again, but the words died in his throat, straining as if he’d been choked. He’d told Rin that he wasn’t quite ready to say that word in regards to himself, but part of him had wanted so badly to be able to say it in his moment. His ears fell and his hand squeezed around Amaimon's wrist, "I’ve been so blind."

Amaimon’s heart skidded in his chest, his gaze flicking desperately to Samael's own. 

He wanted to ask what the time king meant, but the truth was he knew exactly what Samael was talking about. But, he couldn’t yet let himself hope for it to be true. 

"Amaimon." 

His name sounded new through Samael's lips, as if he had never said it before, never said it and actually seen him. It reminded Amaimon of the night in the forest when Samael had first walked through the honeysuckles to find him. 

"I want to try again."

Again. 

There had been so many agains. Why would this be any different? He wanted to ask, needed to, but the look in both the time king's eyes and Rin's made the question fall back into the pit of his stomach. 

"I want us to be like we should have been...I want us to be equal in our claim."

"Equal!?" The cry scrapped its way up his throat, the word foreign on his tongue, uncomfortable and heavy. 

They had never been equal. 

Samael’s strength and disposition assured that fact. He and Abduxuel had been equal before his death, but his twin had been the only being Samael had ever willingly stood equal too and even then Amaimon had seen strains between them. 

He was Abduxuel’s subpar replacement, the third wheel that had been brought to the front when the space king was no longer an option. If Samael could trade Amaimon’s life for Abduxuel’s he would. Amaimon had known that for a very, very long time. 

And yet, here Samael was talking about being equal, offering Amaimon something he had never offered before and it was so...it was so god damned hypocritical.

How could they ever be equal if all Samael saw him as was second best, the claim he took because the one he actually wanted was gone.

There was no equality in that dynamic. 

He wanted to growl this at Samael, to call him out on his hypocrisy, but Rin seemed to catch the energy Samael had managed to miss roiling in the back of his throat. 

“Why don’t we rest?” He offered up, the words doing little to soothe the acidic taste burning its way through Amaimon’s lungs. “It’s been a long day.”

He was right about that much at least and deep down Amaimon wanted to duck his head in a nod and agree to just sleep for now. 

The truth was he wanted to curl against Rin. He had missed him deeply, loved him and hadn’t wanted him to get tangled up in all of Samael’s webs. 

It would be nice to nuzzle against his scent and rest, even for just a few hours.

“Okay.” He agreed gently, voice distant and almost sad, but he managed to press the tone down to sound as okay as possible for Rin. 

From behind them a door creaked open and he flinched, whipping his head back to see Sheimi and Izumo pressing they faces through a crack in the door he had slammed on them what felt like a life time ago now.

He tore away from Samael to look at them, intent on demanding why they hadn’t run, but Sheimi spoke, her voice worried and soft before he could properly gather his thoughts, “Is everything okay now?” She asked, Izumo crossing her arms tightly behind her.

“You three have been out here for hours.” She said, huffing as if she’d been personally inconvenienced. 

Rin got up and smiled sheepishly, scratching at the back of his head, “Yeah, yeah, we’re fine we’re just figuring some things out is all.” He explained and with his casual, albeit a bit embarrassed, demeanor they pushed all the way through the door to walk out into the garden properly, reassured of their safety.

Amaimon growled low enough for them not to hear, pointing a glare at Samael in threat. If the time king so much as moved towards them he would fight back.

Sheimi hugged Rin close, smile wide enough to crinkle at the edges of her eyes, “I missed you.”

“I missed you too, the both of you,” Rin chuckled and Amaimon watched as he strengthened the claim he had had on them since his awakening, likely calming a fair bit of his own instincts in the process. 

Jealousy coiled anew in Amaimon’s gut.

“Yeah, yeah missed you, whatever,” Izumo mumbled as Rin gave her a side hug, knowing his stubborn friend wasn’t fond of too much physical affection. 

Amaimon stood, pulling away from Samael with yet another glare as he held his arms out expectantly. Sheimi’s eyes widened, searching his face for a moment before Amaimon flexed his fingers, motioning for her to hurry up and hug him already. She did so with a smile and Amaimon held her close as he defiantly laid his own claim over her. 

If Samael said they were going to be equal now then he damn well would have to prove it. Amaimon had wanted to claim the two humans beside him for a while now, but had always been wary to. Now, he did so to show Samael a glimpse of what being equal actually meant. He could claim whoever he wanted, whenever he wanted and it wasn’t Samael’s place to say otherwise. “Thank you.” He said, and even though he never specified what he was thankful for, that would be too much to put into words after all they had done for him, she nodded knowingly.

By the time Sheimi had moved away from him Izumo had come to stand beside them and she leaned in for her own hug, a quick squeeze he found himself appreciating deeply. His claim glowed gently around her as well moments later. “Come to us if you need anything, or just want to, I don’t know, hang out.” She said and he nodded. He could do that.

With that they left and Rin turned to him reaching out and this time Amaimon let him take his hands, fingers threading together, “I missed you too.” He said and Amaimon watched as tears filled Rin’s eyes and was reminded of how often he and Samael shoved the responsibility of being strong onto him. 

“There were a few times I wasn’t sure I’d make it back to you.” Rin cried, tugging one of his hands away to swipe at his tears in a flustered movement that brought a deep red burning to his cheeks. “I was scared.” 

Amaimon wasn’t sure what to do, words weren’t a strong suit of his, so he looked back to Samael and raised his hand snapping them back to the mansion.

They appeared back in Mephisto’s room, in the room Amaimon still slept in despite having broken his claim on Samael, the room where Rin and Samael had left him to curl worriedly under the sheets wondering what would happen next.

Now what happened next was here and Amaimon still felt just as worried and lost. The bed in front of him looked huge and he couldn’t move, were they seriously just going to lay down beside one another like nothing had happened? 

Apparently so because in the next moment Rin was guiding him to the mattress, curling around him and letting out a sigh heavy with sobs. His frame shook and he nuzzled under Amaimon’s neck as if he couldn’t get close enough to the earth king’s scent.

Samael settled beside them, snapping his fingers to clear them of their shoes and day clothes as Rin’s lips pressed against his own, needy and full of want, hands smoothing under the edges of his shirt, pushing away the layers. Rin was barely holding back whimpers.

“I missed you.” He stressed again and Amaimon remembered how scared he had been when he thought Samael had died, how terrified he’d felt knowing that Rin would die too if that were the case. 

A tentative sensation stroked over his aspect, demonic presence reaching out as Rin kissed him again and it took Amaimon a second to realize what was happening. 

Rin was trying to claim him. 

Right in front of Samael. 

He trembled. Rin was tugging at his shirt now and on reflex Amaimon lifted his arms, Rin pulling the fabric away. 

Samael was at his side but he was still, so still it reminded Amaimon of how he got right before he lashed out. Amaimon knew that Samael could feel what was happening. With a demon as strong as Rin it would be impossible not to. 

Amaimon shook.

Claiming Sheimi and Izumo had been one thing, they were humans. Mortals. In the big scheme of things they were worms and Samael had sworn he would get better and had seemed to overlook it, but if Amaimon accepted a claim from a stronger demon after unclaiming Samael...well, that was about the biggest middle finger he could possibly give the time king.

Samael wouldn’t watch this, wouldn’t watch as Amaimon insulted him by taking a stronger lover. 

Amaimon whimpered low in the back of his throat; Rin was in danger and he couldn’t move. Rin was on top on him now and all he could do was shake, heart beating hard in his chest as his aspect shrank away from Rin's own. 

Don’t, he wanted to scream, but his tongue felt swollen in his mouth. His ears folded tight against his head, tail coiling to squeeze his leg.

Rin stoped, sitting up with a look that sent guilt dancing through Amaimon along with the fear pulsing in his veins. "Amaimon is something wrong?"

He was looking up at Rin, but he couldn’t see. Samael's hand brushed his own and he flinched. "D-Don't."

"If you don’t want to that's okay." Rin said, voice full of love as he brushed his fingers over Amaimon's cheeks, smiling reassuringly.

Rin was so good to him. 

The thought scared him further. Rin was good to him, he was trying to make sure he was okay right before Samael inevitably attacked. He remembered how kind Shiro had been too, despite his gruff nature he had reached out to Amaimon in ways he had been unfamiliar with, teaching him ways of being human he was just starting to understand.

He had loved Shiro too.

And Samael had hurt him, over and over. Samael had let him die. 

Amaimon growled, snapping as his fear was shoved away to be replaced with something much more volatile, righteous anger. He flipped Rin over, pressing him into the mattress and hunching over him, hackles raised, teeth bared in a vicious snarl at Samael.

Rin gasped, "Woah, Amaimon, what’s wrong?" He asked, hands coming up to touch Amaimon's shoulders, but the action only upset the earth king more, his tail lashing wildly behind him. 

Samael straightened beside them, movements slow, deliberate, and loudly broadcasted as not to startle Amaimon, "He's worried about you claiming me because you’re a stronger demon." He explained, carefully tilting his head back to expose his neck like he had back in Shiemi's garden. "It’s considered an insult to leave a claim in order to bond with a higher ranking demon."

"Oh," Rin said, letting go of Amaimon to turn and brush his forehead reassuringly to Amaimon’s arm where it pressed defensively into the sheets beside him. "That’s okay, we don’t have to if you aren’t comfortable with it." He said, echoing his previous sentiments because he knew that this new world that had opened up to them would take time and patience to navigate.

"Amaimon." Samael said, calling Amaimon's attention despite not needing to, he hadn’t looked away from the time king for even a split second, doing so would have provided an all too easy opportunity to attack. "Rin can claim you and you can claim Rin. You can claim and be claimed by anyone you want." He said and then softer, slower, "That's part of us being equal."

Amaimon's heart jumped into his throat, too thick to be swallowed around, his ears rang and then with a deep growl he managed to form words, "I don’t believe you."

Rin stiffened under him but Amaimon didn’t let the momentary fear distract him. His eyes narrowed to where Samael sat.

"You’ve said you would change before. What’s the difference now.”

Samael stared at him for moment, opening his mouth to speak but nothing came out and it let a bitter taste in the back of Amaimon’s throat. Rin began to jump in, lifting himself up by his elbows slightly “Amaimon we-” but Amaimon cut him off.

“No, I want to hear it from him. What will make this time different? You told me and Shiro that you were going to get better, but you didn’t. You’ve told me over and over again only to go back to how you always are. Don’t play this game with Rin, not when I know how it ends.” 

He was shocked by how steady his voice came, calling Samael out on behavior he had been putting up with for centuries and so, his courage bolstered by his own strength, he finished his thought, “You’ve only ever been truly gentle with one demon, Abduxuel, and I- I cant be his cheap replacement anymore. Neither can Rin.”

Samael’s ears fell, a look of shock and defeat painting his features, pain welling up in his utterly lost expression, but Amaimon gave him no time to recover before speaking again. 

“I-we have to be more than that to you, Samael, because you’re more than that to us. I know that now.” He drug in a sharp breath of air, his strength finally beginning to crack under the weight of his words, under the weight of the truth he had hidden in himself for so, so long. “I love you...but I can’t - I can’t do this anymore.”

Rin startled beneath him, Amaimon’s words knocking him just as off balance as they had knocked Samael. “Amaimon?” He asked and in his voice there were so many questions that he couldn’t hope to ever properly ask them all.

Amaimon knew what he meant though and nodded, “I’ve been thinking about it for a while now...what it means to feel this way.” He had Rin, Sheimi, Izumo, and looking back even Shiro to thank for that. “And I think it means knowing what’s best for me.”

A quiet settled over them, long and heavy and Amaimon wondered if the sun would come up before another move was made, golden light streaming in through Samael’s large windows, but eventually the time king thawed and he bowed his head.

His hands lifted to his chest, claws curling in the fabric of his shirt and then his shoulders shook. They trembled, chest heaving and Amaimon realized with mounting terror that Samael was crying. 

“That is how I’ve treated you,” he confessed as he looked up and bared his weakness, tears tracking messy red lines down his cheeks in a quiet, broken sob. “That’s how I’ve treated everyone, you, Rin, Shiro, Henry...treated you like everything Abduxuel wasn’t.” Blood bloomed under his claws, his nails piercing through his clothes to dig into the skin underneath. "I’m sorry."

"Mephisto!" Rin sat up further, reaching out for the time king as the blood he had drawn spilled heavier down his front. His hand tugged Samael's claws free from his chest, but hidden beneath his palm a soft purple light had formed. It shocked Rin into letting go, his breath catching in his throat and Amaimon was no different, eyes wide as Samael's heart took shape in front of them. 

A golden, slowly rotating, spherical hourglass appeared in front of Samael. The turning bands around the center were etched with astronomical figures while the sand trapped beneath the glass were the stars, moons, and planets themselves. 

It had been so long since Amaimon had seen it. 

Samael's bloodied claws rose around it, surprised as well. He let out a shuttering breath, placing the pads of his fingers against it and pressing down until Amaimon knew it hurt, his shoulders still shaking. 

"Stop it!" Rin nearly shouted, words strained with worry and disbelief as he grabbed Samael's hands again, this time weaving their fingers together tightly. 

Samael's heart floated, exposed, in between the three of them.

"Amaimon." Once more Samael called from his attention when it wasn’t needed, the earth king's gaze already intent on him. "This is yours."

His heart froze in his chest, stuttered to a complete and utter stop as his eyes flicked from Samael's heart to his face then back again. 

"What?"

The word left him without his permission, Amaimon hardly aware he had spoken aloud.

"That’s what it means, doesn’t it? A claim. If something happens, if I die, I want you to have my aspect."

He was right technically, a completed claim bond between demons could mean the transfer of power in the event of a death. Although such a thing had only occurred once between demon kings. 

Amaimon remembered what Samael's heart had looked like before Abduxuel’s death. 

"I’m not your plan B either." Amaimon said slowly, Rin’s words from before had hit far too close to home and although at the time he had forced a Rin to submit to Samael's will, the same as he had to, he agreed with him. He didn’t want to be the one who was forced to step up to play Samael's games if Lucifer killed the time king. With how entangled he had become with his select humans he probably would for their sake, but he didn’t want to be told to do it. 

"I know," Samael said and Rin nodded with his words. He sighed, heavy, exhausted, although not at Amaimon but at himself, "I’m not good at this."

Rin stepped in, resting his hand on Samael's shoulder now that he was sure he wouldn’t end up hurting himself again, "Amaimon, we love you." 

The word seemed to skewer Amaimon through, cutting him deeper than Samael's spears ever could and in an entirely different way.

Amaimon had never truly expected to hear those words from anyone.

Well, from anyone who mattered, anyway. 

"We know it’s going to take time, but we, but I, saw all the other times and it’s okay to be mad." 

Was it? 

His anger towards Samael had hardly ever been anything more than a nuisance to the time king. 

Rin touched his free hand to his own chest, carefully summoning his own heart to let it illuminate the space around them with its beautiful blue. "We're not saying it’s going to be easy, he’s an idiot." He smiled, his grin slashing sideways in a way that made even the harshest moments softer and Amaimon had to agree with him.

Samael was the biggest idiot to ever exist.

"But we are saying we're yours, if you'll have us and..." Rin looked to Samael, squeezing his shoulder, "And if you can’t trust him yet, then please, trust me."

Amaimon looked between them for a moment, trying to fully work through what they were saying. If Rin and Samael had become one being then of course Rin had seen all of the things the time king had done and being human he would have seen those destructive patterns far before Amaimon could have ever hoped to and yet, here he was telling Amaimon that this time was different. He admitted that it wouldn’t be easy, that it would take work, but he’d seen something in Samael. 

And Amaimon trusted him....probably more than anyone else. 

Samael scooted forward a bit, gently pushing his heart forward until it was the closest that it had even been to Amaimon, "Please, take it." He said asking Amaimon so many things and exhibiting trust Amaimon had never seen him express.

He reached his hands out and took it, his own heart pounding a rhythm against his ribs as if it wanted to escape too. His eyes burned and his vision blurred. 

He’d waited a very long time for this, longed for it since almost the moment he’d come into existence. 

"I want us to be happy."

He wanted that more than anything. 

He didn’t care about anything else in the whole world, all of Assiah could crumble at his feet so long as he could be happy, so long as the people he cared about could be right there with him.

That’s all that mattered. 

"We will be," Rin promised as he gave Amaimon his heart too, the earth king holding them both gently until slowly they all shifted closer to one another. 

Rin leaned against him and Samael mirrored the action, the both of them taking their hearts back when Rin yawned again. 

Amaimon was the first to lay down fully, hands grabbing both Samael and Rin to pull them down until he was sandwiched between them. Rin wrapped his arms around him, face burrowing into his back and taking in his scent. In front of him Samael welcomed Amaimon into his arms as well and Amaimon took a moment to look at him.

He lifted his hand, brushing it along Samael’s cheek as Rin drifted off to sleep, leaving them in a quiet moment. "The new host looks good on you." He offered up, unsure where to start now that they were alone with their feelings, the odd being known as Rin leaving them with nothing but soft snores.

"Not the smoothest transition I've ever had," Samael admitted with a small chuckle, leaning against Amaimon's hand. 

"This won’t be either."

Samael nodded, "I know...please be patient with me. I know how I feel it’s just hard...Rin's showed me that a lot of my...shortcomings are tied up in Abduxuel's-“ he tripped a bit over the word death and shook his head, trying to recover, "I’m still figuring out a lot of this, but I know I want to figure it out with you, with the both of you."

The pad of Amaimon's thumb slid over Samael’s bottom lip, "You should have fabricated his birth centuries ago."

The sentiment brought another wry chuckle Samael and he conceded, "If I’d known he was going to be like this I would have."

Amaimon smiled, small, but warm, "So, are you going to kiss me anytime soon, time king?"

Samael grinned and leaned in, their lips meeting for what might as well have been the first time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tada!
> 
> The boys, they kiss!
> 
> Also, just FYI, this is the end of the fic. The official end anyway, I’m planning two epilogue chapters, but this chap was the end of the main arc, the journey. I didn’t want them to be 100% okay at the end because healing does take time and it’s messy.
> 
> Although I’m also very greedy so there will be those sexy time epilogues 😂. 
> 
> Comments and kudos appreciated <3


	13. Baptismal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is part one of the epilogue, aka the sexy times the boys have all been waiting for.

Amaimon didn’t dream, instead he slept far better than he had in centuries, better perhaps than he could ever remember. Tension he hadn’t known he’d been holding had seeped from his muscles and his bones and a breath he’d been holding in was finally permitted to escape. 

When he woke the morning was warm with light coming in through the windows, soft blankets, and the bodies of the two demons beside him. He breathed in their scents and the smells of the linens around them. 

It was rare to catch Samael sleeping, but now he took a moment to appreciate it, to reach his claws out and brush them along the time king’s jaw. He mumbled something in his sleep and nuzzled against his touch before starting into a slow purr that Amaimon could feel Rin pick up behind him. 

They needed the rest, Amaimon smiled, loosing a host was an arduous task and absorbing then separating from the time king’s aspect had to have been exhausting on Rin. 

He leaned up and pressed a small hidden button, one of many, above the headboard of the bed. 

Belial’s voice came through a hidden speaker, “Yes, master?”

“Three large breakfasts.”

“Right away, Master Amaimon.” Belial answered and Amaimon could almost picture his curt nod and bow, “Is there anything else I can do for you?” 

“That’s all.”

“Yes, Master Amai-“

Amaimon clicked off the speaker before he could finish his formalities, settling back into bed to drift in and out of sleep for a few moments.

A short while later a small knock came at the door, Amaimon sitting up and beckoning Belial in, behind him a very eager Behemoth bounded forward, scrambling into the bed. 

Amaimon took him into his arms, the sudden movement stirring Rin as he sniffed the air. 

“Food...” he mumbled, still half asleep but reaching for the trays Belial brought over, his stomach growling loudly. Amaimon scratched his nails through Rin’s hair, watching as he melted against the touch with a small moan, “Amaimon.” His tail gave a wag and he yawned before murmuring something that made Amaimon’s heart stutter in his chest, "Mmm love ya"

Belial suddenly felt too still beside him, expression blank as ever, but Amaimon knew it had shocked him. Demons didn’t say those words, although, Rin got a bit of a pass considering his human upbringing. Still Belial's stiffness nearly brought a growl to his lips, but he tamped it down with sometime much softer. He pressed a warm kiss to Rin's bed head, "Love you too."

Belial’s affronted look was extremely worth it, his tail giving a pleased flick at the line that wedged itself in a canyon between Belial's eyes. 

"Leave the food on the bedside tables," he instructed sternly, eyes narrowing with a cruel flash of his fangs, "Then stop lingering."

Belial was quick to do as he was told, putting the food down and bowing before leaving the room. He suppressed all his fear instincts expertly, he’d been working for Samael for centuries after all, but it was still nice to watch the door close behind him. 

By the time Amaimon looked back Rin had wormed himself over to the food, waking Samael on his way over, the time king giving a small grunt before his eyes squeezed shut even further in an effort to block the light. Rin moaned around a mouthful of food, "I haven’t eaten in centuries."

Technically that was true, the remark making Samael chuckle, "Neither have I," he sat up, robe lopsided and falling open to reveal his chest as he ran his claws through his messy bangs to brush them back and away from his eyes. Rin stopped eating for a moment to look at him, Amaimon doing the same. His green eyes met their own, hand pausing in his hair, "What is it?"

Rin crept over to him, posture curious as he slunk across the seemingly endless sheets of Samael's huge bed, "You look so relaxed."

Samael looked down at himself, curling his hands into loose fists, flicking his tail, and wiggling his toes. It almost reminded Rin of when he had caught him looking in the mirror before all of this had begun. "I haven’t slept that well in a while... I haven’t had a new host in a while." 

"You don’t smell like blood," Rin commented, only to pause and laugh a bit at how absurd the statement had sounded, but it was true; for as long as Rin had known Mephisto he had smelled at least faintly of blood. Now though all his wounds were gone taking the tangy iron scent with them to leave the time king cloaked only in his natural demonic scent Rin and all other demons could identify him by. 

"Eat something," Amaimon prompted and at first Samael wanted to ask why he seemed so adamant about it, only to remember the last time time he’d eaten without blood in his mouth. He reached to the tray of food and indulged himself in a rather ungentlemanly bite of his typical breakfast, instant ramen. He groaned at the taste and Rin mirrored the sound with one of annoyance at seeing the continuation of his awful eating habits. 

They all began to eat and Amaimon was surprised by the gentleness of the quiet that followed. He closed his eyes and let the warmth from the sun coming in the windows fill him up until he startled a touch as a body pressed against his. 

Rin.

He looked down at Rin's sheepish smile, the younger demon curling against him now that he was full. He reached out, remembering the night before and the fear that had stopped him from doing something he so desperately wanted too. He kissed Rin's forehead and when he looked up curiously he pressed their lips together fully before Rin could ask the question Amaimon saw forming in his eyes. 

He had missed Rin too, his thoughts from the night before coming back to him. He had been convince Rin was going to die and that feeling had left him lost and hallow inside. If he hadn’t feared Samael’s back lash he would have launched himself into Rin’s arms and now that he’d been reassured to a fair extent he did just that, tugging at Rin until they were almost as close as they could possibly be. 

He nuzzled against Rin cheek, wanting to cover him in his scent, wanting to feel as much of him as he could as possessiveness rose inside him.

Rin was quick on the uptake, pulling him into another deep kiss, hands framing his face as he let them fall back against the mattress. "Is this okay?" He asked as they separated, voice already edging on breathless.

Part of Amaimon appreciated the question, but a larger portion couldn’t help but groan, "Don't treat me like a human."

It was all Rin needed, the hafling rolling them over to pin him down, a growl escaping his lips that had Amaimon shivering. After so long apart Rin must have been itching to have him again, he’d been made to suppress those instincts the night before, but Amaimon bared everything to him now, letting his head lay back against the sheets to stretch his neck in a sinuous roll.

Rin's teeth were around his throat in a quick movement, and for just a moment he hesitated again before Amaimon spoke, reaching up to run dagger sharp claws through his hair. "I thought you were going to die." He said, voice blunt but wanting, "Tell me you’re here."

Fangs sunk into him, deep and demanding as flames sparked to life across the expanse of Rin's body, "I’m here," Rin promised around a growl, around the blood staining his teeth. 

Amaimon had thought he’d lost the both of them, the pain of that knowledge alone was enough to make him want to wrap his arms tightly around the earth king and never let go, but for now sinking his claws into his hips would have to do. 

Amaimon met his movements, hips twisting upwards to grind against Rin's front in a slide of friction. He drug his hands down Rin's back, shredding through his shirt to feel the satisfying rip of fabric rather than simply snapping the cloth away. Light traces of blood followed his movements, but Rin's flames didn’t bother to lick it away. 

"Do that again." Rin commanded, voice low in his ear as he ground down against him once more, making Amaimon moan as he placed his hands on his shoulders and bore down, tearing into him to draw thick, red lines down the expanse of his back. Blood pooled hot under his nails and as Rin didn’t burn it away it began to seep into his clothes until steadily, the drops fell down onto Amaimon. "Learned this one from Mephisto," he said as he snapped his fingers, whisking their clothes away to let his blood rain freely down onto Amaimon's naked body. 

He grinned as he heard an appreciative rumble move through Samael's chest, Amaimon’s eyes blown wide beneath him.

"I also learned how much you enjoy being covered," he added with a purr as he smeared his blood generously across Amaimon's chest.

Air stuttered in Amaimon's lungs at the sensation, at the warmth quickly cooling against his skin and the scent coiling heavy in the air filling him with want as he shuddered. He let his eyes fall closed, Rin’s hand drifting down to stroke them together, fingers squeezing around their shafts as his blood slicked his movements. Rin’s other hand moved from his hip, nails leaving the deep gouges they had made to instead take one of Amaimon’s hands in his own and lift it to his neck.

Amaimon didn’t need to be told twice. He sunk his claws in, piercing into the veins and arteries hidden beneath until blood drenched his arm and face. 

He moaned, hips jerking in Rin's grasp as he was baptized, blood soaking every inch of him as he drug his claws down Rin's chest and stomach to all but flay him open above him. 

Rin's lips captured his own, hard and so demanding that he might as well have burned the entire universe to ash with his flames. 

"Please..." he begged against Rin's mouth, Rin swallowing his plea, taking it into himself and giving Amaimon everything he could have ever asked for. His flames, which up until that point had been harmless and warm, turned searing.

Amaimon screamed, back bowing as the flames ate through his flesh, rending his skin away in deep lashes to expose his muscle, his own blood saturating the bed beneath him. 

Rin's blood was still pouring down onto him, cascading into the holes his flames burrowed in him, filling him, smoothing against tendons and bones in a sensation, in a gesture, that stole Amaimon's breath far more than his fire ever could.

Here.

Rin was here with him.

His blood was mixing with his, was being swallowed into his body as it rapidly healed the damage. His presence was all around him and his aspect reached out again as he leaned down to latch his teeth against Amaimon's neck. 

Fangs sunk in along with a claim that cut to his very core, his hips moving in a desperate grind and he felt Rin consume him yet fulfill him all at once, cumming hard against his stomach and Rin's fingers with a cry. 

He grit his teeth, eyebrows pinching together as he jerked, small whimpers slipping unbidden from his throat. Rin stroked him through his finish, murmuring gentle praises to him as he did, soft I love you’s and complements that melted the last little bits of his hesitation far far away. He settled, panting, into the after glow, eyes still closed.

"That was stunning," a low voice rumbled appreciatively from behind them, Samael settling at Amaimon’s head, reaching out now to thread his fingers through Amaimon’s hair. Rin sat back, stroking himself a few more times before slowing, willing too postpone his pleasure for the promise of a stronger release later on.

Samael leaned down, still a bit hesitant about the boundaries Amaimon had placed between them that would take time to work out, but Amaimon reached out and pulled him all the way down to meet his lips in a languid kiss that had Samael remembering all the good times they had shared.

There were messy parts, horrible parts, that was true, but he hadn’t fallen in love with Amaimon for nothing. 

He knew he did tend to treat Amaimon as an Abduxuel replacement and that was wrong, but through that twisted, manipulative sentiment, softness and warmth had managed to take root. Amaimon cared for him, despite his many flaws, and in his worst times Amaimon had reached out to comfort him.

Amaimon was always there at the end of a long day with a kiss, he would run his hands through his hair idly, or trace the dip of his hip when they rested. Their tails tangled together like puzzle pieces clicking into place. Amaimon understood him like no one else did, even managing to unravel a few of the pieces Abduxuel hadn’t. He stayed by his side, calmed him when his darker emotions rose, knew how to reason with him when his demonic senses took over. 

And perhaps above all else, he knew when to hit back. 

He called Samael out on his bullshit, especially now. Considering their differences in power Amaimon had risked his life and the lives of his friends to wake Samael up, to show him he was being stupid. Amaimon wasn’t a yes man. He’d put himself on the line, filled his own heart with grief and anger and loneliness to tell him enough was enough and it had been what Samael needed.

Amaimon had saved him.

Without his intervention,without the damage his unclaiming has physically caused him Samael wasn’t sure whether or not he would have managed to have told Rin what was truly upsetting him.

The kiss was slow and everything Samael loved about Amaimon, his hands cupped the earth king's face and he purred. He wanted more than anything in that moment to claim Amaimon. 

However, it wasn’t the right time and he knew that. He knew that it would take more than a few days to fix everything that had happened between them and he knew that he would have to work towards it. Samael had shown Amiamon his heart and it had settled the other demon's anxieties for the time being, but actions would speak louder than words in the years ahead of them. He would have to prove to Amaimon every day that he could keep his promise, at least until the bridges he had burned were repaired. So for now he held his aspect back, understanding that when the time came, Amaimon would have him fully. 

In the meantime Samael let himself become lost in the slide of their lips against one another for a few more moments before slowly pulling away. "Let me clean you."

Amaimon arched his neck in response, knowing that the time king did not mean he intended to snap away the blood Rin had shed. To do so would be to waste a precious resource. Instead Samael's tongue slid over his offered skin, washing away the red in slow, languid lines. 

And then Samael spoke. 

"Where would I be without you?"

It was simple and quiet and something Amaimon had desired for centuries. Recognition. The understanding that he wasn’t some accessory to be worn, or a doll to be played with, but an actual, contributing member of their bond. 

"Hm let’s see," Amaimon mused as Samael licked away the blood, Rin doing the same as they both fell into the rhythms of worshiping him, "You would be dead, you’d try to get back to the present and your body wouldn’t take it and you’d die miles away from the nearest clone host. You’d still be arguing with Rin because you wouldn’t have outright told him how you feel even if part of you wanted to. And you’d be dead again because I wouldn’t have saved you when Rin went feral and ripped off your horn before you went back in time. Just to name a few."

Rin laughed against his chest, making progress, licking the blood and cum away only to replace the mess by nipping Amaimon’s stomach until fresh red welled to join in a bright rush.

Samael followed Rin down, soft purr on his lips as he found his prize, taking Amaimon's length down his throat. 

Amaimon's head fell with a moan, hardening again quickly under the assault of Samael's tongue, over sensitive and reeling. Part of his world was spinning because of the pleasure, because of Rin's fire and blood and because of Samael's lips, the touch of his claws against his hips.

Another part of him however, a larger part even, was reeling because of what this meant. 

He had left Samael, actively shattered their bond and here Samael was and Amaimon could feel him, could feel he wasn’t sating his sexual desires with the earth king. This was more. 

Rin had promised him that Samael was capable of change, that he was willing to pursue that goal and Amaimon hoped that that was true with everything in him because...well there really had been some good moments. There were times he wanted to protect, wanted to remember, wanted to experience again and again and when he closed his eyes and thought about those moments he didn’t just think of sex.

He thought of pizza nights, warm beds, running his hands through Samael’s hair as he played video games. He thought of Samael's horrible eye mask with fake eyes drawn on and how he’d mumble in his sleep if his dream was good. He thought of nights looking over the city, nights spent drinking, how their eyes would sometimes meet from across a room, inside jokes, teases, hiding shampoo in Samael's conditioner, Behemoth chewing their shoes.

Love, Amaimon was learning, was not big moments. 

There were big moments that was true, moments where you needed to be brave, moments when important gestures were made, conversations were had.

But love...love was small things.

Love was leaning over the couch to kiss Samael when he got home from a meeting. Love was listening to him rant about an anime not because he was interested in the show but because it made Samael smile to talk about it. Love was finding he’d drifted across the mattress in his sleep and wiggling back into the other demon's embrace.

Love was how Rin listened to him even when he wasn’t talking. Love was Rin holding out a spoon of cake batter for him to taste. Love was Sheimi soothing his nerves, offering a garden to rest in and food to eat. Love was Izumo’s righteous anger and her blunt nature as she encouraged him to be strong.

.... Love had been Shiro sharing a cigarette in the cool night air as they stood on Samael's balcony. Love had been the leftovers from Rin and Yukio's lunches that he would heat up in a microwave for Amaimon to eat. Love had been a stoop outside a monastery where they'd talk for hours and he’d finally gotten parts of Abduxuel off his chest.

Love had been Abduxuel taking his hand and taking him someplace new because he knew Amaimon got bored easily. Love had been his mischievous grin as he messed with humans for Amaimon to watch. Love had been how Abduxuel would let him ask as many questions as he wanted, on any subject he was curious about without ever once telling it was stupid.

Those thoughts filling Amaimon’s mind, those feelings and memories, he pulled Samael up to press their lips together again. A blowjob did sound nice and Amaimon knew he damn well he deserved one after all he’d put up with, but what he really wanted in that moment was to be close to Samael.

The kiss started hungry, but soon melted into one deeper and slower than Amaimon could have imagined. His hands framed Samael's face and the time king's fingers stroked gently through his hair. Samael climbed fully on him, Rin seated behind them and gently stroking their tails in a warm, slow encouragement of their coupling. 

Amaimon pulled away a few moments later, nuzzling into Samael's neck with a purr that reverberated through the whole of the time king's body. "What would you like?" Samael asked and if was a good question, Amaimon knowing full well that he wanted Samael as close to him as possible, within reach and easily accessible. He reached down and grabbed the time king's ass, claws digging into him to spread his cheeks wide, rutting his once again hard cock against him. Samael smirked, "I think I can manage that."

Amaimon growled at Samael's tease, at his confidence and that smirk he knew like the back of his hand, "Thought you'd been knocked down a few pegs," he huffed, leaning his head back as Samael licked at his neck again.

"I have," Samael admitted, voice still slightly teasing, but laced with a soft edge. "Doesn’t mean I don’t like the banter."

Their foreheads met and Amaimon let out an easy laugh, of course Samael wouldn’t have suddenly stopped being a tease, an insufferable nuisance...and honestly, Amaimon hadn’t wanted him to.

A loud groan pulled them out of the little world their emotions had thrown them into, popped the bubble of the mood around them. Amaimon looked up to see Rin, arms wrapping possessively around Samael's shoulders with a hungry expression, "I get that you two are having a moment, and I’m so proud, really, but can we get to it."

Samael laughed, soft and deep in the back of his throat, the sound cascading upwards from low in his chest. "I suppose so." He said, looking at Amaimon, gaze warm and glinting with the barest hint of mischievousness. "How would you like me, Amaimon?"

His question was answered in the blink of an eye, Amaimon wasting no time in flipping their positions, shoving him down into the mattress, hands on his hips, claws easily pressing their ways into his skin. He laughed again, they may have been showing each other some softer emotions as of late, but Amaimon was still a demon and a rather greedy one at that. He rocked back against the other demon, purring as one of Amaimon's hands moved to give his ass an appreciative squeeze.

Rin's fingers traced up and down his spine as he slowly drifted to the head of the bed, tugging Samael's front half into his lap. He ran his hands through the time king's hair, taking his tail in hand and stroking him until he was shivering with pleasure. He'd probably never admit it out loud, but he enjoyed being pet on, enjoyed the hands in his hair, the fingers brushing his cheek, gently massaging his shoulders and tail. Of course, Rin didn’t need to be told, he’d seen every inch of Samael when they had merged. He glance upwards, meeting Rin's gaze as the half demon gave a knowing smirk before scratching his claws against Samael's ear, making him melt with a low moan against him. 

Amaimon hummed his approval, leaning over Samael and grinning up at Rin, "Watch this," he nipped at Samael's ear, drawing blood with his impromptu piercing, tongue quickly lapping up the dark red before it could spill down Samael's neck or drip on the sheets. Samael drew in a sharp breath, moaning needfully. He rocked against Amaimon’s cock, tail threatening to lash out of Rin’s hand.

"So sensitive~" Rin teased, scratching his ear again as Samael gave a half hearted growl. 

Amaimon took Samael's minor distraction and annoyance as a chance to quickly slick his fingers with a summoned bottle of lube, pressing one inside of Samael slowly. 

It didn’t take long for Samael to whine, a sound that was absolutely intoxicating when it came from the usually stuffy and extremely prideful demon's lips, "You don’t have to be so gentle," he growled. 

"I know." Amaimon said simply, pressing another finger inside, taking his sweet time with it. Samael didn’t need the stretching his demonic healing made it a useless practice for the most part anyway, but Amaimon delighted in torturing him. He knew Samael wanted nothing more than to be full right that second, but some pleasures were best when put off. Funnily enough it was Samael who had taught him that trick and now it was coming back to bite him in the ass. 

"Here," Rin offered as the seconds ticked on and on, Amaimon dutifully and oh so carefully stretching Samael, "Let me distract you."

He tugged Samael close, pressing his finger into the time kings jaws until they creaked despite how Samael was quick to open his mouth. He guided Samael down, pressing his length deep inside his throat and holding him down until Samael strained to breath through his nose. He appreciated the view, loving how his shoulders tensed and his breath came hot against his navel. After a long minute he pulled Samael off, the time king dragging in a harsh breath through his mouth that Rin wasn’t sure was for show or not, but it didn’t matter, it was a pretty picture and one that needed rewarded. 

He stroked his cock, carefully pressing the tips of his claws into the delicate skin to draw deep red lines, blood welling to slip down to his base and pool against his stomach and balls, "Don’t waste it," he growled, exposing his fangs as Samael eagerly leaned in.

His tongue sought out Rin's blood quickly, lapping it away and swallowing it down. Rin sighed at the warmth. He felt fangs scrape questioningly against the already healing cuts and he purred his approval, letting his head fall back against the bed's numerous pillows as Samael reopened the wounds only to clean them again, steadily repeating the process as swallowed Rin down over and over again in a cycle that was just fast enough to avoid being called teasing. 

Finally Amaimon removed his fingers, Samael humming expectantly around Rin as Amaimon pressed the tip of his cock to his entrance, pushing in slowly. Samael arched for him, trying to rock back to make him go faster, but Amaimon laughed. He smacked Samael's ass hard, the sound ringing out in the air and bringing an indignant yelp from Samael's throat as he pulled away from a Rin to glare back at Amaimon, "None of that," Amaimon purred, tongue running over his fangs and lips as he squeezed Samael's hips, looking like the cat who'd gotten the cream, "I’m enjoying myself and last I checked, you owed me." He accentuated the statement with another slap, taking a moment to appreciate the way his hand mark welled red on Samael's pretty new host body. 

Samael let out a huff that mingled with a growl at the end, ears lowered in a pout he was too dignified to fully commit to as Rin tapped his cheek just hard enough to sting, fire burning at the tips of his fingers to remind him of his job. He leaned down again, taking Rin's cock down his throat as Amaimon filled him, his thrusts teasing and just as he thought he was going to snap and flip Amaimon over to ride him until Amaimon cried with overstimulation, the earth king leaned over him, fangs setting against the base of his neck.

Words.

Like scales over water smoothed rocks or paper burning to curl at the edges, Gehennian coiled from Amaimon's lips. It slunk through his fangs to bury deep in Samael's marrow, dark and possessive. 

Yet, it wasn’t quite right, Amaimon attempting to express something in their mother tongue that they didn’t have a word for. 

Love.

Amaimon came as close as he could, the words, the meanings, layering one over the other each more akin to their demonic nature than the last to explicitly imply a connection deeper than even a claim bond could grant. Something unknowable to them and vast. 

"I own you."

"You are mine."

"I will have you."

"I will consume you."

"I will bring you into myself entirely."

The words began to break down, to abstract and blend, the sentences, their constructs and forms moving as oil over water, staining into his being.

"Time swallowed by earth, hidden, mine, blurred, want, need, forever, Samael..."

Samael shook, the way Amaimon said his name in that deep understanding, in that full unraveling of his self in their language, it made him tremble. To be seen so clearly, not as a demon or even a living being, but a pure concept born from the ethos, it made his aspect yearn and reach out.

But now wasn’t the time and although Amaimon reached back, no claims were laid. Their aspects danced along one another, but Samael still had work to do to. Rome wasn't built in a day.

He should know, he’d been there. 

Still Amaimon's words pushed him to earn the claim he so clearly declared he desired. It was as if Amaimon was saying chase this, this feeling, this belonging, and I'll give it to you.

A promise spoken through jagged teeth to a spine bared, vulnerable, and offered. 

Another voice joined Amaimon’s own, Rin speaking in a language he’d never spoken before, one he had only learned when he had mixed with Samael. Fire scrawled over his skin, electric blue and mesmerizing as Samael realized he had unknowingly pulled off of Rin's cock at some point during the exchange. Fingers ran through his hair and over his ears as Rin promised too, promised he’d make Samael his when it was time and he’d wait as long as was need.

Samael closed his eyes and spoke back, quieter than the demons holding him, but with just as much meaning. Telling them how much they meant to him too.

Amaimon began to move in earnest soon after, the moment left to melt between the three of them, a memory Samael would hold close until their claims could be properly place. 

Rin’s fingers tugged him down again and he drowned in the sensations of being full, of them inside him, taking him, the warmth that came with it. He felt their hands and claws and tails drag this way and that over his body and moaned. After everything that had happened, all the emotions and pain that had been dug up it was nice to become nothing more than a body rocking between the two of them.

Deft fingers slid over his dick and Samael let out a choked groan, thighs starting to tremble as Amaimon stroked him just the way he liked it. His free hand found Samael’s tail and he pulled it until the time king’s hands gave out from under him and he was brought beautifully to heel, taking Amaimon's cock deep into him over and over until Amaimon's precum ran down his thighs in messy lines. He moaned as the pain and pleasure from having his tail pulled mixed with his already fuzzy mind, hands scrabbling to gain purchase on Rin's hips as the younger fucked his throat roughly.

It was overwhelming and deliriously wonderful, but if Samael thought that was all they had planned for him then he was a fool.

Rin's touches became rougher with each passing moment, claws digging into his scalp as he took his pleasure, a fang filled grin cutting across his face as warmth began to seep into him.

At first Samael thought Rin had cum, or that in his dizzy state his throat just felt warmer than it should have with a cock already thrusting feverishly down it. But then the warmth grew and his eyes snapped open, tears of pleasure catching on his lashes as Rin burned him from the inside out.

It took everything in him not to bite down, not to tear into Rin as he screamed. Blue fire poured into him, his mouth open, jaw aching, ready and willing to receive every last drop of Rin.

The younger seared into him, his hands tight in his hair as his fire ate away at his neck. Blood like molten lava burned through his skin, like a lighter held up to the center of a piece of paper a pinhole of flame poked through him, glowing bright red and blue as it moved outwards in a widening circle. The blood dripped onto the bed, burning through the sheets and the mattress and perhaps even the floor, sinking down through the mansion and into the earth, but Samael couldn’t find it in him to care. 

He gagged, drowning in blood, fire, and Rin's body, unable to breath and desperate. Amaimon was still slamming into him, fucking him hard into the mattress. His rhythm was slipping, rough movements overtaking any semblance of a proper pattern and had Samael had a clearer head he would have recognized how close Amaimon was, but it was difficult to think around all the sensation overtaking him. Blearily, far back in his thoughts realized he wasn’t too far from cumming either.

Rin gasped, drawing his attention back fully to him to look up at the pull of his eyebrows, the set of his jaw, the face he always made when he hadn’t been fucked to a drooling mess. All he could do was try to swallow as Rin moaned, cumming down his wrecked throat, and he couldn’t even do that, Rin's finish dripping with the blood and liquid fire that had burned through his esophagus.

He coughed violently, hacking, burning, and needy. Amaimon squeezed his cock, pulled at him until he was sat on his knees, back meeting Amaimon's chest, neck stretching across his shoulder.

Rin had watched as his cum had spattered messily through the hole in Samael's throat, riding his orgasm out until the time king couldn’t take any more, Amaimon lifting him away. He stared, sex drunk and in love at the picture Amaimon made for them, Samael splayed out and wrecked. 

His body was arched, length hard and straining in Amaimon’s hand, the precum pearling to role down the earth king's fingers and drip in translucent webs to the bed below. His neck was burned through, the parts of his body that hadn’t been instantly cauterized by Rin’s flames bleeding in a rush of color against his skin, red streaking down his chest, stomach, and between his legs providing Amaimon extra slick to work with as he stroked Samael, not that he necessarily needed it.

Samael moaned, the sound choked as his thighs shook ever so slightly. Rin grinned, reaching forward to grab the tail Amaimon had let go of as he focused on fucking up and into Samael hard. He was close, Rin could hear it in his voice and as he ran his claws the wrong way up Samael's tail he screamed. His back arched, ribs visible against his skin, even with his new body as he contorted himself in a harsh angle.

He came hard, jerking with his finish, ears pressed flat against his head as Amaimon dug his teeth into his shoulder. His teeth clenched, moan cutting to a whimper that Amaimon answered with a snarl as his thrusts slowed to bury himself deep inside the other demon as he followed closely behind, filling Samael with his finish. 

Amaimon’s growl rumbled into a purr, the both of them trembling in the aftermath until finally Samael sucked in a deep breath, flushed chest expanding rapidly with the movement. 

Amaimon's arms wrapped around him, fangs sliding from Samael’s neck, tongue tracing over the rough gashes before his teeth clicked in a few quick chatters.

Rin's ears perked to the sound, knowing what it meant, but never having truly heard it before. He’d seen it in Samael's mind, his memories from centuries and centuries before. 

The clicks were an old form of demon language, and although the fact that demon language was one that moved and evolved would likely be something he wondered about later, Rin set his questions aside to focus on what Amaimon was saying. Or well, saying wasn’t exactly the correct word, it was more along the lines of implying, letting his knowledge be conveyed without a completely solid form. 

Content. Full. Safe. Tired. 

It was probably the closest demons had to, I’m happy. 

Samael clicked back, letting his teeth meet in sharp distinct sounds that Rin mirrored, although a bit clumsily.

The sound made Samael laugh a bit as Amaimon finally let himself shift away, snapping them and the bed clean so he could lay back down into the comfortable, probably a couple thousand thread count sheets. "Seems like our merging put you on the fast track for demonic linguistics."

"I think it put me on the fast track for a lot of things," Rin said as a Amaimon lay down beside him, nuzzling into his back. He dipped his mind into some of the new knowledge he held, finding the well of his thoughts deeper than he ever thought possible, years of burrowed experiences and emotions washing over him.

He was particularly worried about how black holes didn't work like how he’d been taught in science class, not even in the slightest, and how if you went through them you actually didn’t die but became some other form of existence entirely.

He knew so much now, and quite a bit of it he didn’t want to know. He knew all his friends average heart rates and schedules, which was odd. He knew when the sun had risen twenty years ago and when the next eclipse would be down to the nanosecond. He knew every answer to every dating simulator Samael had ever played and exactly how many times Shiro had threatened to kill the time king, joke or not. 

He knew Henry and how he danced and hummed ever so slightly when he thought no one was watching, how a sunset would catch in his soft brown hair. 

He knew the rises and falls of Shiro's voice in every imaginable emotion and how he always smelled like his favorite shampoo, the kind Samael's company had bought the patent to when the business had gone under just so he could keep smelling that scent because he missed Shiro. 

He knew Abduxuel like the back of his hand, like the inside of his eyelids and the blood in his veins. He knew every scheme, every smile that spoke so many words and every evening and morning they’d spent together. He knew how many times Abduxuel had used the word love and how many times Samael ached to have said it back.

He knew how many scales Amaimon had, in all forms, and how he’d mumble to himself or stick his tongue out just slightly if he was concentrating really hard.

Rin knew a lot of things about himself too now. He knew the exact temperature range of his flames and how he looked when he chopped vegetables, eyebrows pinched, ears turned at a slight angle. 

Rin saw all this knowledge and far, far more in Samael and to say that his view of the time king had changed would be an understatement. He reached his hand out and touched Samael's cheek. 

At first he had wondered if it would be odd knowing so much, if the vast knowledge Samael had would overwhelm him, or things would become awkward when everything had been aired out. But that wasn’t true in the slightest.

If anything he loved Samael more now than ever before. He was flawed, even scared, and he was trying. Some of the methods he used Rin would never approve of, but he understood now far better than he had before and he could tell easily where his knowledge ended and Samael's began.

He also loved Amaimon more too, saw sides of him he hadn’t seen before. 

He was content, full, safe, and tired, just as the three of them had said to one another. He was happy and as Samael settled close to the two of them, Rin had a feeling that that would be enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I cannot keep the fluff out of the porn with this one it seems.  
> Oh well lol, hope y’all liked and sorry if I got a bit too into demon language I’m an English grad student for a reason and it’s cuz I’m a big ol nerd.
> 
> Comment, kudus are as always appreciated uwu
> 
> Also there’s only one more chapter left isn’t that wild?


	14. Turning Slowed Around

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter was the sexy epilogue  
> This one is the fluff!
> 
> Sorry it’s short I just thought it wouldn’t be quite fitting to go too much into detail. I wanted to let everyone just breathe and let the story simply fade off while we know they are happy.

Years past, as they were wont to do, and although to a demon it felt like no time at all Amaimon could see the weight of the days in Rin's eyes as he smiled at him, a bottle of beer clutched in his fingers.

Ten years had come and gone, the months calming as Rin had finally defeated Satan and taken his rightful place as the ruler of Gehenna, and a rather laissez faire one at that. Sure, there was a realm waiting on him and perhaps he’d spend more time there one day, but for the moment he was content with Assiah, with his family and his friends.

There had still been work to do once Satan was defeated and Lucifer retreated to lick his wounds. Most of the human population had been exposed to demons and their existence was known around the world. Some had decided to have themselves cleansed of the temptaint and the work involved with that process kept the Order busy, among other things.

Rin helped, wherever he could, just as he always had. He helped those who wanted themselves cleansed of the sight of demons and those who wanted to learn more about them. He helped rebuild towns, soothe demons who were new to Assiah, he fostered good feelings and mutually beneficial relationships.

Lucifer had said that he wanted to make Satan's world real, form that dream of Assiah and Gehenna together into a tangible reality and for a long time it had been something everyone had been so scared of.

But, that was exactly what Rin had done.

Sure, their worlds were not one in the same, but demons interacted with humans more and more everyday and the humans were coming to find out that they weren’t all so bad.

There was still a long, long way to go, yet, looking over the table in front of him to his friends — his family, gathered around a grill to celebrate Rin's official promotion to Paladin, better late than never after all, Amaimon felt a weight lift from his shoulders.

It was like pulling the binding off an old, aching sprain, it exposed parts of himself to the air and it had been so long, but he could breathe again.

It hit him, finally, that they were living in the after. Here they were, truly in that space they had looked forward to, that space they had promised one another they would reach.

This was...this was what they’d earned.

This was the part where he smiled, raised his own glass of beer and the world pulled away and away and away until he couldn’t be seen anymore, his friends' laughter filling the air as they winked out of visible existence.

* * *

  
It hadn't been a completely smooth ride and he hadn’t expected it to be, but seeing it now made everything worth it.

The work of letting Samael process his grief properly was not clean and despite his promises and ardent apologies afterward, he had still slipped at points. There had been times when he’d lashed out, when he’d raised his voice and in the moment, meant the cruel words he’d spat. It had become easier to see the hurt those words truly hid, however, and navigating through Samael's emotions had become less exhausting.

He had never hurt Amaimon again, not physically, not really, not unless Amaimon asked for it of course. At first there had been a few moments when Samael had grabbed Amaimon’s hand too hard, claws at his wrist, cutting through the skin, but he’d always been quick to realize what he was doing and let go even if he hadn’t been able to manage an apology right at that moment.

Needless to say Samael's obsessive personality was not cured overnight, even a decade later it still lingered and Amaimon suspected it always would in a few forms, after all it was a large part of his essence, a need to understand and obtain. But, the ways he expressed this trait had grown steadily more passive.

He had learned that people could belong to him and still interact with or even be with others. He was also learning to cope with people leaving him.

Although, that one was taking a bit longer.

* * *

  
Not long after Samael and Rin had returned from their time escapades they had both gone to say some more formal goodbyes to Shiro. It was something that Rin had done before, but he had thought it would be important to go with Samael at first.

It had been a bit awkward, but later Samael had gone on his own and when he’d come back he’d been quiet, but not necessarily in a bad way.

The flowers at Shiro's grave were almost always fresh now.

In the following weeks Samael had taken some time away from his work to return to Germany and visit a house that had been turned into a museum, a house with a supposed demon laboratory and wide field outside.

He’d found Henry's grave not far from the home and cleaned it up, though he did so with magic, he may have loved the man but not enough to get dirt and moss under his fingernails, let alone risk touching a bug.

The museum had soon after received a rather sizable donation to help with the home's upkeep.

* * *

Abduxuel didn’t really have a grave.

He had a domain in Gehenna that technically Samael ruled over, but that hardly counted.

For the most part that grief was still being worked out, even now it was tender and Samael had been genuinely surprised that neither Rin nor Amaimon had pushed him on it. Although, he knew Amaimon was still in mourning over the lost king as well.

Every now and then he’d catch a look in Amaimon’s eye, a quiet white flag extending between them and they’d talked, if only for a short, while about him.

There were moments, mostly in the early morning before Rin woke where one of them would comment on how Abduxuel would have liked to see them now, happy, or how he would have enjoyed Rin and what the world had become.

Their hands would meet across the bed sheets, fingers tangling together.  
  


* * *

They had all the time in the world to figure things out. That’s what mattered.

* * *

Everyone at the party laughed and talked, passing around food and drinking, smiling easily and Amaimon knew.

There was no simpler way to say it. No way to capture the feeling that rose inside him.

He just knew.

He looked over to Samael.

* * *

The party dragged on and on until most everyone was drunk, Shima carrying on some horrible song and tugging nearly everyone into it as the forgotten leftover scraps of food were left to cool on the now turned off grill.

Amaimon stood, making his way over to the little balcony Yukio's apartment had. Samael had offered to have the party for Rin's promotion at the mansion, but Yukio had suggested having it at his apartment and Rin hadn’t been able to say no to him despite how much more cramped everyone was.

Yukio hadn’t changed much, Amaimon hadn’t been surprised by that.

He’d been rescued of course, freed from Satan's parasitism, and with work and therapy he had healed his relationship with Rin little by little.

But his personality, his defensive nature, remained and he preferred privacy. Rin had learned to meet him in the middle and take what he could.

Amaimon knew they would never fully see eye to eye and Rin knew that too, but at least the twins could share comfortable silences again.

The party had been a nice gesture.

Amaimon opened the sliding glass door and let the world wash over him, air pushing gently through his hair. He'd need to go on a trip to the mountains soon, the city air was growing annoying and he wanted to stretch his legs.

There was still something left to do though.

He leaned over the guard rail and took a sip of his drink, arms folded under him as he looked up. He was going to enjoy seeing the stars on his vacation. He breathed a soft sigh out into the night

A few minutes later the glass door slid open again and a familiar scent filled the space around him with a warmth he’d only come to comprehend as love.

Samael leaned over beside him, resting too. Their bodies were close, nearly shoulder to shoulder and they didn’t say anything.

They just stood there as the party went on in the background, the light and warmth from inside washing over them in a yellow glow of contentment. Shima and Rin sang loudly, the t.v played some movie, Izumo and Sheimi gossiped while Bon and Koneko caught one another up with what had been happening in their jobs. The rumble of conversations and life filled up all the space around them, simmering into a background noise along with the sounds of the city and Amaimon leaned into Samael, head resting on his shoulder as he reached out.

Slowly his aspect unfurled from him, smoothing along the edges of Samael's own. However, unlike some of the other times they had allowed their aspects to touch he didn’t pull away. This wasn’t a quick check in or caress. Not this time.

Amaimon pushed, gently, just enough to let Samael know that he was ready.

Samael stiffened for a moment beside him, turning to him, eyes widening just a touch. "Are you..."

He nodded, yes, he was sure.

Samael turned to him properly, hand lifting to cup his cheek as their foreheads met.

Amaimon could feel Samael's aspect unfurl and reach towards his own, the two of them just feeling for a moment like they had done many times before until, gently, they let each other mix and tangle together, leaving their marks.

The glow of a fully completed new claim bond shone in their minds, brighter than the light from the apartment and the city below.

Amaimon smiled.

Samael let out a breathless laugh and for a moment Amaimon thought that he had rendered the time king speechless, but then of course he spoke, damn talkative bastard that he was, "Rin's going to be over the moon as the humans say, hm?"

"I hope he’s not the only one," Amaimon teased, hands lifting to run his fingers over Samael's suit jacket.

"Oh he’s certainly not I’m already planning the party for it and this time it will be in the mansion, I promise you."

"You're going to make it terribly gaudy."

Samael chuckled, leaning in until their lips were almost pressed together, "Mm, you know me so well."

Their lips met fully, soft and welcoming and Amaimon thought to himself that yes, he did know Samael very, very well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy crud guys it’s over!  
> That’s wild!  
> I’ve been writing this for over a year now and I’m so so happy so many people like it  
> I was so nervous when I started and now I just feel really warm and satisfied that it’s finished.  
> I feel really happy 
> 
> I hope you guys like this last chapter, like I said I wanted something nice and short and sweet to let the story simply end. The boys have been through a lot and they deserved a rest I think.
> 
> Thank you all for reading and coming along for this journey!!!

**Author's Note:**

> You know you loved the pun in the title.
> 
> Kudos and comments appreciated all that same old jazz ^-^/)


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